Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 35.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica stood at 35.8%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.6% on the previous year and up 7.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica peaked at 37.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 5.6%, in 1973.
That places Costa Rica 71st out of 94 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 5.6% | — |
| 2001 | 18.5% | +233.0% |
| 2002 | 19.8% | +6.9% |
| 2003 | 20.7% | +4.5% |
| 2004 | 20.6% | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 22.4% | +8.7% |
| 2006 | 22.7% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 29.8% | +31.1% |
| 2008 | 31.9% | +7.2% |
| 2009 | 33.0% | +3.5% |
| 2010 | 29.1% | -11.8% |
| 2011 | 30.6% | +5.1% |
| 2012 | 31.7% | +3.5% |
| 2013 | 26.8% | -15.4% |
| 2014 | 33.4% | +24.7% |
| 2015 | 32.7% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 32.8% | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 27.4% | -16.4% |
| 2018 | 35.2% | +28.3% |
| 2019 | 29.7% | -15.5% |
| 2020 | 37.6% | +26.5% |
| 2021 | 31.7% | -15.7% |
| 2022 | 31.6% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 33.9% | +7.3% |
| 2024 | 35.8% | +5.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 1 |
| 2000s | 24.4% | 18.5% | 33.0% | 9 |
| 2010s | 30.9% | 26.8% | 35.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 34.1% | 31.6% | 37.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More education data for Costa Rica
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 2.17 % change on previous year (2019)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 34,294 (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 8,765 (2024)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 119,754 (2019)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 2.39 % change on previous year (2019)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 102,057 (2019)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) 1.91 % change on previous year (2019)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in Costa Rica was 35.8% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 37.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.6% in 1973.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- Costa Rica ranks 71st out of 94 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.2%. 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 lower secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release