LU3: Combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: LU3: Combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force was 8.78 in 2025. ▼ Falling
LU3: Combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica, 2014–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 8.78 for lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 9.3% on the previous year and down 52.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica peaked at 23.74 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 8.78, in 2025.
Costa Rica ranks 28th of 63 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
LU3: Combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 18.47 | — |
| 2015 | 18.29 | -1.0% |
| 2016 | 18.02 | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 16.16 | -10.3% |
| 2018 | 17.73 | +9.7% |
| 2019 | 17.96 | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 23.74 | +32.2% |
| 2021 | 19.27 | -18.8% |
| 2022 | 15.22 | -21.0% |
| 2023 | 11.65 | -23.4% |
| 2024 | 9.68 | -16.9% |
| 2025 | 8.78 | -9.3% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 8.78 is above the median for high income countries, which is 7.94, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 8.78 is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 9.49, 93% of the median. (8 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 17.77 | 16.16 | 18.47 | 6 |
| 2020s | 14.73 | 8.78 | 23.74 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More work & labour data for Costa Rica
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.9965 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.9952 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.9977 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.61 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.29 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 5,205 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 569.35 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 1,908 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 1,868 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 3,776 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica?
- Lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force in Costa Rica was 8.78 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 23.74 in 2020.
- What is the lowest lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.78 in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force?
- Costa Rica ranks 28th out of 63 countries with data for 2025.
- Is lu3: combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 52.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of LU3: Combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).
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 includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. LU3 represents the share of the extended labour force that are in unemployment or the potential labour force. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.