Military spending as a share of GDP in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Military spending as a share of GDP was 0.8% in 2019. ▼ Falling
Latest (2019)
0.8%
Change on year
up 5.5%
World rank
130th
of 172 countries
All-time high
1.0%
in 1948
All-time low
0.2%
in 1966
Years of data
100
1920–2019
Military spending as a share of GDP in Costa Rica, 1920–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for military spending as a share of gdp in Costa Rica is 0.8%, measured in 2019.
That represents a change of up 5.5% on the previous year and up 75.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Costa Rica peaked at 1.0% in 1948 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1966.
Costa Rica ranks 130th of 172 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 100 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 0.6% | — |
| 1921 | 0.6% | +7.3% |
| 1922 | 0.5% | -13.0% |
| 1923 | 0.5% | -2.8% |
| 1924 | 0.5% | -4.6% |
| 1925 | 0.6% | +9.5% |
| 1926 | 0.6% | +6.7% |
| 1927 | 0.6% | +6.5% |
| 1928 | 0.7% | +4.5% |
| 1929 | 0.7% | +2.7% |
| 1930 | 0.7% | +0.2% |
| 1931 | 0.7% | -3.2% |
| 1932 | 0.7% | +6.1% |
| 1933 | 0.6% | -8.8% |
| 1934 | 0.7% | +7.9% |
| 1935 | 0.7% | -4.8% |
| 1936 | 0.6% | -12.0% |
| 1937 | 0.5% | -14.1% |
| 1938 | 0.5% | +5.3% |
| 1939 | 0.5% | -4.5% |
| 1940 | 0.6% | +24.5% |
| 1941 | 0.7% | +7.3% |
| 1942 | 0.7% | +13.4% |
| 1943 | 0.8% | +11.1% |
| 1944 | 0.9% | +14.2% |
| 1945 | 0.9% | -4.2% |
| 1946 | 0.7% | -24.9% |
| 1947 | 0.6% | -18.9% |
| 1948 | 1.0% | +72.1% |
| 1949 | 0.6% | -41.7% |
| 1950 | 0.4% | -20.4% |
| 1951 | 0.4% | -7.3% |
| 1952 | 0.4% | -0.1% |
| 1953 | 0.4% | -5.2% |
| 1954 | 0.4% | -2.8% |
| 1955 | 0.4% | +4.5% |
| 1956 | 0.4% | +9.5% |
| 1957 | 0.4% | -4.0% |
| 1958 | 0.4% | -8.4% |
| 1959 | 0.3% | -8.3% |
| 1960 | 0.3% | -10.4% |
| 1961 | 0.3% | +2.7% |
| 1962 | 0.3% | -4.5% |
| 1963 | 0.3% | -11.1% |
| 1964 | 0.3% | -5.5% |
| 1965 | 0.3% | -1.9% |
| 1966 | 0.2% | -4.3% |
| 1967 | 0.2% | +1.3% |
| 1968 | 0.3% | +14.4% |
| 1969 | 0.3% | +3.2% |
| 1970 | 0.3% | -4.4% |
| 1971 | 0.3% | +12.2% |
| 1972 | 0.3% | -8.5% |
| 1973 | 0.3% | -1.7% |
| 1974 | 0.3% | +5.9% |
| 1975 | 0.3% | +6.0% |
| 1976 | 0.3% | +11.5% |
| 1977 | 0.4% | +3.7% |
| 1978 | 0.4% | -1.0% |
| 1979 | 0.4% | +2.3% |
| 1980 | 0.3% | -9.1% |
| 1981 | 0.3% | -10.1% |
| 1982 | 0.3% | -0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.3% | +9.8% |
| 1984 | 0.3% | -5.1% |
| 1985 | 0.3% | -2.4% |
| 1986 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 1987 | 0.3% | -13.6% |
| 1988 | 0.3% | -3.5% |
| 1989 | 0.3% | +7.5% |
| 1990 | 0.3% | -0.9% |
| 1991 | 0.3% | +1.4% |
| 1992 | 0.4% | +31.8% |
| 1993 | 0.3% | -6.3% |
| 1994 | 0.3% | -18.0% |
| 1995 | 0.3% | -2.9% |
| 1996 | 0.3% | +4.4% |
| 1997 | 0.3% | +6.3% |
| 1998 | 0.3% | +8.8% |
| 1999 | 0.3% | -2.4% |
| 2000 | 0.4% | +12.5% |
| 2001 | 0.4% | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 0.4% | +3.8% |
| 2003 | 0.4% | -3.0% |
| 2004 | 0.4% | +2.5% |
| 2005 | 0.3% | -10.9% |
| 2006 | 0.3% | +5.8% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | +14.5% |
| 2008 | 0.4% | +3.9% |
| 2009 | 0.5% | +14.2% |
| 2010 | 0.5% | +8.0% |
| 2011 | 0.6% | +13.8% |
| 2012 | 0.7% | +19.8% |
| 2013 | 0.8% | +15.4% |
| 2014 | 0.8% | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 0.8% | -4.8% |
| 2016 | 0.8% | -2.3% |
| 2017 | 0.7% | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 0.8% | +4.4% |
| 2019 | 0.8% | +5.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More economy & growth data for Costa Rica
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 2.74 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 3.3 Percent per annum (2029)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 3.31 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.1312 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per capita 2,620 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), annual growth rate 7.45 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3264 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per capita 6,519 current US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), annual growth rate 5.03 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), per unit of GDP 164.35 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Costa Rica?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Costa Rica was 0.8% in 2019, according to Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 1948.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1966.
- How does Costa Rica rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Costa Rica ranks 130th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 75.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 100 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).