Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education was 20.4% 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 20.4% for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in 2024.
That represents a change of up 7.0% on the previous year and down 13.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education in Costa Rica peaked at 23.5% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 5.8%, in 1973.
That places Costa Rica 75th out of 129 countries with data for 2024, putting it 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 | 5.8% | — |
| 2001 | 13.9% | +139.7% |
| 2002 | 14.3% | +2.9% |
| 2003 | 14.6% | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 15.0% | +2.2% |
| 2005 | 16.0% | +6.8% |
| 2006 | 16.3% | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 17.6% | +8.1% |
| 2008 | 20.4% | +16.0% |
| 2009 | 20.9% | +2.5% |
| 2010 | 20.0% | -4.4% |
| 2011 | 20.6% | +2.8% |
| 2012 | 21.0% | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 16.0% | -24.0% |
| 2014 | 23.5% | +47.2% |
| 2015 | 21.9% | -6.7% |
| 2016 | 21.4% | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 18.1% | -15.4% |
| 2018 | 22.2% | +22.5% |
| 2019 | 18.9% | -15.1% |
| 2020 | 22.3% | +18.1% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | -18.1% |
| 2022 | 19.0% | +4.2% |
| 2023 | 19.1% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 20.4% | +7.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.8% | 5.8% | 5.8% | 1 |
| 2000s | 16.5% | 13.9% | 20.9% | 9 |
| 2010s | 20.4% | 16.0% | 23.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.8% | 18.3% | 22.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More education data for Costa Rica
- 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)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 104.77 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary 104.8% (2024)
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 20.4% 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 23.5% in 2014.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.8% in 1973.
- How does Costa Rica rank for educational attainment rate, completed short-cycle tertiary education?
- Costa Rica ranks 75th out of 129 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 13.1%. 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, 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