Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total was 19.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica, 2001–2025
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of youth population.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 19.4% for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.3% on the previous year and up 4.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica peaked at 22.0% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 17.2%, in 2022.
That places Costa Rica 44th out of 124 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of youth population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 22.0% | — |
| 2002 | 20.8% | -5.4% |
| 2003 | 21.6% | +4.1% |
| 2004 | 20.2% | -6.7% |
| 2005 | 18.7% | -7.5% |
| 2006 | 18.5% | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 17.5% | -5.4% |
| 2008 | 17.3% | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 19.6% | +13.3% |
| 2010 | 19.1% | -2.8% |
| 2011 | 21.1% | +10.8% |
| 2012 | 17.6% | -16.9% |
| 2013 | 18.0% | +2.2% |
| 2014 | 18.3% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 18.6% | +1.9% |
| 2016 | 20.4% | +9.6% |
| 2017 | 20.0% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 18.7% | -6.4% |
| 2019 | 17.6% | -5.9% |
| 2020 | 19.9% | +13.4% |
| 2021 | 19.0% | -4.8% |
| 2022 | 17.2% | -9.5% |
| 2023 | 20.9% | +21.5% |
| 2024 | 18.3% | -12.5% |
| 2025 | 19.4% | +6.3% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 19.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 10.1%, 1.9× the median. (49 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 19.4% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 19.6%, 99% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 19.6% | 17.3% | 22.0% | 9 |
| 2010s | 18.9% | 17.6% | 21.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.1% | 17.2% | 20.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 41 Grenada 20.1% compare
- 42 Jamaica 19.7% compare
- 43 North Macedonia 19.5% compare
- 45 Kyrgyzstan 19.3% compare
- 46 Brunei 19.0% compare
- 47 Cote d'Ivoire 18.8% 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 share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in Costa Rica was 19.4% in 2025, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 22.0% in 2001.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.2% in 2022.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total?
- Costa Rica ranks 44th out of 124 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The share of youth not in education, employment or training (also known as “the NEET rate”) conveys the number of young persons not in education, employment or training as a percentage of the total youth population. Youth not in education are those who were neither enrolled in school nor in a formal training program (e.g. vocational training). For the purposes of this indicator, youth is defined as all persons between the ages of 15 and 24 (inclusive).