Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Adequacy of social safety net programs was 15.0% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
15.0%
Change on year
down 6.2%
World rank
11th
of 35 countries
All-time high
23.3%
in 2020
All-time low
11.7%
in 2011
Years of data
13
2008–2022

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica, 2008–2022

05101520252008201520222008: 21.9 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2010: 12 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2011: 11.7 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2012: 12.4 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2014: 14 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2015: 14 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2016: 14.8 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2017: 14.5 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2018: 14.8 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2019: 14.5 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2020: 23.3 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2021: 16 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2022: 15 % of total welfare of beneficiary households

Source: ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total welfare of beneficiary households.

Analysis

Costa Rica recorded 15.0% for adequacy of social safety net programs in 2022.

The figure is down 6.2% on the previous year and up 21.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica peaked at 23.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.7%, in 2011.

That places Costa Rica 11th out of 35 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households) in Costa Rica, 2008 to 2022.
Year % of total welfare of beneficiary households Change
2008 21.9%
2010 12.0% -45.4%
2011 11.7% -1.9%
2012 12.4% +5.9%
2014 14.0% +13.2%
2015 14.0% -0.2%
2016 14.8% +6.0%
2017 14.5% -2.5%
2018 14.8% +2.4%
2019 14.5% -2.5%
2020 23.3% +61.1%
2021 16.0% -31.1%
2022 15.0% -6.2%

Costa Rica compared with similar countries

  • Costa Rica's 15.0% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 6.9%, 2.2× the median. (15 countries reporting)
  • Costa Rica's 15.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 14.8%, 1.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
2020 +61.1% 14.5% 23.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 21.9% 21.9% 21.9% 1
2010s 13.6% 11.7% 14.8% 9
2020s 18.1% 15.0% 23.3% 3

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 8 Kazakhstan 19.8% compare
  2. 9 Kyrgyzstan 16.9% compare
  3. 10 Chile 16.8% compare
  4. 12 Ecuador 14.8% compare
  5. 13 Romania 14.6% compare
  6. 14 Belarus 13.4% compare

See the full ranking of 35 places →

More work & labour data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica?
Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica was 15.0% in 2022, according to ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB).
What is the highest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 23.3% in 2020.
What is the lowest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 11.7% in 2011.
How does Costa Rica rank for adequacy of social safety net programs?
Costa Rica ranks 11th out of 35 countries with data for 2022.
Is adequacy of social safety net programs rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 21.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB), published as part of Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB). Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/adequacy-of-social-safety-net-programs-percent-of-total-welfare-of-beneficiary-households/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households)
Unit
% of total welfare of beneficiary households
Source
ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
35 places, 348 data points, 2004–2023
Last refreshed

Adequacy of social safety net programs is measured by the total transfer amount received by the population participating in social safety net programs as a share of their total welfare. Welfare is defined as the total income or total expenditure of beneficiary households. Social safety net programs include cash transfers and last resort programs, noncontributory social pensions, other cash transfers programs (child, family and orphan allowances, birth and death grants, disability benefits, and other allowances), conditional cash transfers, in-kind food transfers (food stamps and vouchers, food rations, supplementary feeding, and emergency food distribution), school feeding, other social assistance programs (housing allowances, scholarships, fee waivers, health subsidies, and other social assistance) and public works programs (cash for work and food for work). Estimates include both direct and indirect beneficiaries.