Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent was 19.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica, 2001–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica stood at 19.7%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 26.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica peaked at 26.8% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 14.5%, in 2002.
That places Costa Rica 53rd out of 89 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 14.5% | — |
| 2002 | 14.5% | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 14.6% | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 15.1% | +3.4% |
| 2005 | 16.3% | +7.7% |
| 2006 | 17.1% | +4.7% |
| 2007 | 17.4% | +1.9% |
| 2014 | 26.8% | +54.0% |
| 2015 | 25.1% | -6.1% |
| 2016 | 24.4% | -3.0% |
| 2018 | 25.3% | +3.8% |
| 2020 | 25.5% | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 19.7% | -22.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.6% | 14.5% | 17.4% | 7 |
| 2010s | 25.4% | 24.4% | 26.8% | 4 |
| 2020s | 22.6% | 19.7% | 25.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 50 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 20.4% compare
- 51 Viet Nam 20.4% compare
- 52 Mexico 20.2% compare
- 54 Brunei Darussalam 19.2% compare
- 55 Italy 18.8% compare
- 56 Bosnia and Herzegovina 18.6% compare
More education data for Costa Rica
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,024 tertiary education (2024)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0494 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 43,058 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 2 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 4 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 68.9% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.3% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica?
- Educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent in Costa Rica was 19.7% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 26.8% in 2014.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.5% in 2002.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent?
- Costa Rica ranks 53rd out of 89 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed bachelor's or equivalent rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Bachelor's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, urban, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release