Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 9.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 9.4% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024.
The figure is up 11.2% on the previous year and down 9.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica peaked at 10.4% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 1.9%, in 1973.
Costa Rica ranks 54th of 95 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 | 1.9% | — |
| 2001 | 5.4% | +193.1% |
| 2002 | 6.1% | +12.4% |
| 2003 | 6.3% | +3.9% |
| 2004 | 6.1% | -3.9% |
| 2005 | 6.4% | +5.8% |
| 2006 | 7.1% | +9.8% |
| 2007 | 7.2% | +1.7% |
| 2008 | 6.1% | -14.6% |
| 2009 | 6.3% | +3.0% |
| 2010 | 7.7% | +21.0% |
| 2011 | 5.4% | -30.1% |
| 2012 | 9.7% | +80.9% |
| 2013 | 6.5% | -33.1% |
| 2014 | 10.4% | +60.3% |
| 2015 | 9.0% | -13.3% |
| 2016 | 8.6% | -5.0% |
| 2017 | 6.5% | -24.6% |
| 2018 | 8.6% | +33.3% |
| 2019 | 7.3% | -14.9% |
| 2020 | 9.2% | +26.1% |
| 2021 | 7.8% | -14.9% |
| 2022 | 8.6% | +9.9% |
| 2023 | 8.5% | -1.7% |
| 2024 | 9.4% | +11.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1 |
| 2000s | 6.3% | 5.4% | 7.2% | 9 |
| 2010s | 7.9% | 5.4% | 10.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.7% | 7.8% | 9.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
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 short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica?
- Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica was 9.4% 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 10.4% in 2014.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.9% in 1973.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Costa Rica ranks 54th out of 95 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 9.2%. 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, rural, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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