Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 13.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 13.0% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 15.1% on the previous year and up 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica peaked at 13.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1973.
Costa Rica ranks 48th of 89 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 1.7% | — |
| 2001 | 5.6% | +225.9% |
| 2002 | 5.7% | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 6.8% | +19.3% |
| 2004 | 6.2% | -8.1% |
| 2005 | 7.2% | +16.4% |
| 2006 | 7.6% | +4.6% |
| 2007 | 8.1% | +7.5% |
| 2008 | 6.5% | -19.8% |
| 2009 | 7.5% | +14.2% |
| 2010 | 8.9% | +19.1% |
| 2011 | 6.5% | -27.1% |
| 2012 | 10.5% | +62.1% |
| 2013 | 8.4% | -19.7% |
| 2014 | 12.4% | +46.9% |
| 2015 | 12.5% | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 11.7% | -6.5% |
| 2017 | 9.1% | -22.5% |
| 2018 | 11.9% | +31.1% |
| 2019 | 9.7% | -18.4% |
| 2020 | 12.7% | +30.9% |
| 2021 | 10.6% | -16.7% |
| 2022 | 11.5% | +8.2% |
| 2023 | 11.3% | -1.7% |
| 2024 | 13.0% | +15.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1 |
| 2000s | 6.8% | 5.6% | 8.1% | 9 |
| 2010s | 10.2% | 6.5% | 12.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.8% | 10.6% | 13.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More education data for Costa Rica
- 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)
- Theoretical duration of lower secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica was 13.0% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 13.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1973.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Costa Rica ranks 48th out of 89 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.8%. 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 short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, female (%). 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