Costa Rica vs Panama: Informal employment
Informal employment over time
- Costa Rica
- Panama
How they compare
Panama currently reports 1,097 against 805.39 in Costa Rica, a difference of 291.61.
That makes Panama's figure about 1.4 times Costa Rica's.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 14 shared years of data; in 2011 it was Panama ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 42nd and Panama ranks 39th of 81 countries.
Across the 2 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 1 and Panama in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 854.73 | 848.17 | 6.57 | Costa Rica |
| 2020s | 827.86 | 1,040 | 212.12 | Panama |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher informal employment, Costa Rica or Panama?
- Panama, at 1,097 against 805.39 in Costa Rica as of 2025.
- What is the difference in informal employment between Costa Rica and Panama?
- 291.61, with Panama ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Panama?
- 14 years are reported by both, from 2011 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Panama rank globally for informal employment?
- Costa Rica ranks 42nd and Panama ranks 39th of 81 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- International Labour Organization, published as Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. This harmonized series for informal employment is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. Data disaggregated by occupation are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Data may have been regrouped from the national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISCO. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.