Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) was 26.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 26.6% for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 9.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica peaked at 33.3% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 26.6%, in 2025.
That places Costa Rica 111th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 33.3% | — |
| 1992 | 31.1% | -6.8% |
| 1993 | 31.1% | +0.1% |
| 1994 | 31.1% | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 31.6% | +1.6% |
| 1996 | 31.8% | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 33.1% | +4.2% |
| 1998 | 32.1% | -3.1% |
| 1999 | 32.0% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 31.8% | -0.7% |
| 2001 | 31.7% | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 32.2% | +1.7% |
| 2003 | 31.1% | -3.4% |
| 2004 | 31.9% | +2.5% |
| 2005 | 29.1% | -8.8% |
| 2006 | 29.9% | +2.6% |
| 2007 | 27.5% | -8.0% |
| 2008 | 27.7% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 27.7% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 26.9% | -2.6% |
| 2011 | 26.8% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 27.6% | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 30.2% | +9.5% |
| 2014 | 29.7% | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 29.4% | -0.9% |
| 2016 | 28.3% | -3.8% |
| 2017 | 28.2% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 28.4% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 28.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 28.8% | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 28.3% | -1.8% |
| 2022 | 27.6% | -2.2% |
| 2023 | 26.6% | -3.7% |
| 2024 | 26.8% | +0.8% |
| 2025 | 26.6% | -0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 31.9% | 31.1% | 33.3% | 9 |
| 2000s | 30.1% | 27.5% | 32.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 28.4% | 26.8% | 30.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.5% | 26.6% | 28.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 108 Serbia 27.0% compare
- 109 Egypt 27.0% compare
- 110 Saint Lucia 26.7% compare
- 112 Kazakhstan 26.1% compare
- 113 Libya 25.9% compare
- 114 Trinidad and Tobago 25.7% compare
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 self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Costa Rica was 26.6% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 33.3% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 26.6% in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Costa Rica ranks 111th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a "self-employment jobs." i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.