Coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Coverage of social safety net programs was 49.1% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
49.1%
Change on year
down 1.6%
World rank
16th
of 38 countries
All-time high
68.9%
in 2020
All-time low
45.9%
in 2014
Years of data
14
2008–2022

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

02040602008201520222008: 54.3 % of population2009: 52.6 % of population2010: 48.8 % of population2011: 48.8 % of population2012: 47.5 % of population2014: 45.9 % of population2015: 52.7 % of population2016: 54.2 % of population2017: 54.3 % of population2018: 54.9 % of population2019: 54.2 % of population2020: 68.9 % of population2021: 49.9 % of population2022: 49.1 % of population

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica is 49.1%, measured in 2022.

That represents a change of down 1.6% on the previous year and up 3.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica peaked at 68.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 45.9%, in 2014.

Costa Rica ranks 16th of 38 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.

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

Annual values for Coverage of social safety net programs (% of population) in Costa Rica, 2008 to 2022.
Year % of population Change
2008 54.3%
2009 52.6% -3.0%
2010 48.8% -7.2%
2011 48.8% -0.1%
2012 47.5% -2.7%
2014 45.9% -3.4%
2015 52.7% +14.9%
2016 54.2% +2.8%
2017 54.3% +0.3%
2018 54.9% +0.9%
2019 54.2% -1.2%
2020 68.9% +27.1%
2021 49.9% -27.5%
2022 49.1% -1.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 53.4% 52.6% 54.3% 2
2010s 51.2% 45.9% 54.9% 9
2020s 56.0% 49.1% 68.9% 3

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 13 Indonesia 54.6% compare
  2. 14 Poland 53.3% compare
  3. 15 Paraguay 50.1% compare
  4. 17 Dominican Republic 47.9% compare
  5. 18 Belarus 47.2% compare
  6. 19 Uruguay 45.7% compare

See the full ranking of 38 places →

More work & labour data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica?
Coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica was 49.1% in 2022, according to ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB).
What is the highest coverage of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 68.9% in 2020.
What is the lowest coverage of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 45.9% in 2014.
How does Costa Rica rank for coverage of social safety net programs?
Costa Rica ranks 16th out of 38 countries with data for 2022.
Is coverage of social safety net programs rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.5%. 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 Coverage of social safety net programs (% of population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Coverage 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 01 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/coverage-of-social-safety-net-programs-percent-of-population/costa-rica/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/coverage-of-social-safety-net-programs-percent-of-population/costa-rica/">Coverage of social safety net programs in Costa Rica</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Coverage of social safety net programs (% of population)
Unit
% of population
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
38 places, 385 data points, 2002–2023
Last refreshed

Coverage of social safety net programs shows the percentage of population participating in 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.