Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education was 11 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
11
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
47th
of 214 countries
All-time high
11
in 2011
All-time low
9
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025
Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica, 1998–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 11 for number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica peaked at 11 in 2011 and was at its lowest, 9, in 1998.
That places Costa Rica 47th out of 214 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 9 | — |
| 1999 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 11 | +22.2% |
| 2012 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 11 is above the median for high income countries, which is 10, 1.1× the median. (76 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 11 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 11, 1.0× the median. (40 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| 2000s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.8 | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| 2020s | 11 | 11 | 11 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 47 Aruba 11 compare
- 47 Antigua and Barbuda 11 compare
- 47 Australia 11 compare
- 47 Belarus 11 compare
- 47 Barbados 11 compare
- 47 Colombia 11 compare
- 47 Cayman Islands 11 compare
- 47 Finland 11 compare
- 47 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 11 compare
- 47 Honduras 11 compare
- 47 Sri Lanka 11 compare
- 47 Monaco 11 compare
- 47 Malta 11 compare
- 47 Niue 11 compare
- 47 Peru 11 compare
- 47 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 11 compare
- 47 Russian Federation 11 compare
- 47 Senegal 11 compare
- 47 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 11 compare
- 47 Seychelles 11 compare
- 47 Turks and Caicos Islands 11 compare
- 47 Tokelau 11 compare
- 47 Ukraine 11 compare
- 47 Uzbekistan 11 compare
- 47 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 11 compare
More education data for Costa Rica
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 37,015 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 14,772 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 62,694 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 61,047 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 464,490 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 460,126 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -3.03 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0897 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica?
- Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education in Costa Rica was 11 in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 11 in 2011.
- What is the lowest number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 in 1998.
- How does Costa Rica rank for number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education?
- Costa Rica ranks 47th out of 214 countries with data for 2025.
- Is number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. 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 Number of years of compulsory primary and secondary education guaranteed in legal frameworks. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release