Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 24.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica stood at 24.4%.
That represents a change of up 5.8% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica peaked at 27.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 9.3%, in 1973.
Costa Rica ranks 58th of 101 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 9.3% | — |
| 2001 | 18.3% | +97.0% |
| 2002 | 18.4% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 19.0% | +2.9% |
| 2004 | 19.2% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 21.3% | +11.2% |
| 2006 | 21.8% | +2.0% |
| 2007 | 23.0% | +5.6% |
| 2008 | 18.2% | -20.8% |
| 2009 | 18.9% | +3.8% |
| 2010 | 22.3% | +18.3% |
| 2012 | 26.7% | +19.5% |
| 2013 | 19.5% | -26.9% |
| 2014 | 27.1% | +38.9% |
| 2015 | 25.9% | -4.5% |
| 2016 | 25.9% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 22.2% | -14.2% |
| 2018 | 27.2% | +22.6% |
| 2019 | 22.6% | -17.1% |
| 2020 | 26.8% | +18.6% |
| 2021 | 21.6% | -19.3% |
| 2022 | 23.4% | +8.4% |
| 2023 | 23.0% | -1.7% |
| 2024 | 24.4% | +5.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 9.3% | 9.3% | 9.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 19.8% | 18.2% | 23.0% | 9 |
| 2010s | 24.4% | 19.5% | 27.2% | 9 |
| 2020s | 23.8% | 21.6% | 26.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More education data for Costa Rica
- 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)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 4 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 68.9% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.3% (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 24.4% 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 27.2% in 2018.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.3% in 1973.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Costa Rica ranks 58th out of 101 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 down 10.2%. 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 short-cycle tertiary education or higher, population 25+ years, urban, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release