Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban was 9.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica, 2002–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 9.1% for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in 2024.
That represents a change of up 437.4% on the previous year and up 34.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica peaked at 17.5% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 2021.
That places Costa Rica 41st out of 69 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 17.5% | — |
| 2003 | 16.0% | -8.6% |
| 2004 | 16.0% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 12.8% | -20.0% |
| 2006 | 14.0% | +9.4% |
| 2007 | 13.1% | -6.4% |
| 2008 | 10.0% | -23.7% |
| 2009 | 8.4% | -16.0% |
| 2010 | 10.6% | +26.2% |
| 2011 | 16.4% | +55.0% |
| 2012 | 8.8% | -46.5% |
| 2013 | 9.5% | +8.0% |
| 2014 | 6.8% | -28.4% |
| 2015 | 9.0% | +32.4% |
| 2016 | 7.1% | -21.1% |
| 2017 | 6.8% | -4.2% |
| 2018 | 7.5% | +10.3% |
| 2019 | 4.6% | -38.7% |
| 2020 | 3.4% | -26.1% |
| 2021 | 1.7% | -50.0% |
| 2024 | 9.1% | +437.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 9.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 5.3%, 1.7× the median. (27 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 9.1% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 9.5%, 96% of the median. (16 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | +437.4% | 1.7% | 9.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 13.5% | 8.4% | 17.5% | 8 |
| 2010s | 8.7% | 4.6% | 16.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.7% | 1.7% | 9.1% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
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 out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban in Costa Rica was 9.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 17.5% in 2002.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 2021.
- How does Costa Rica rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban?
- Costa Rica ranks 41st out of 69 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 34.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, urban, female (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release