People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) was 0.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
People practicing open defecation, rural in Costa Rica, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of rural population.
Analysis
In 2024, people practicing open defecation, rural in Costa Rica stood at 0.1%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 28.1% on the previous year and down 79.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people practicing open defecation, rural in Costa Rica peaked at 1.2% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2024.
That places Costa Rica 94th out of 171 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of rural population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.2% | — |
| 2001 | 1.1% | -3.8% |
| 2002 | 1.1% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | -4.1% |
| 2004 | 1.0% | -4.2% |
| 2005 | 0.9% | -4.4% |
| 2006 | 0.9% | -4.6% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | -4.9% |
| 2008 | 0.8% | -5.1% |
| 2009 | 0.8% | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 0.7% | -5.7% |
| 2011 | 0.7% | -6.0% |
| 2012 | 0.6% | -6.4% |
| 2013 | 0.6% | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 0.6% | -7.4% |
| 2015 | 0.5% | -8.0% |
| 2016 | 0.5% | -8.7% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | -9.5% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | -10.5% |
| 2019 | 0.3% | -11.7% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | -13.2% |
| 2021 | 0.2% | -15.3% |
| 2022 | 0.2% | -18.0% |
| 2023 | 0.2% | -22.0% |
| 2024 | 0.1% | -28.1% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 0.1% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 1.4%, 8% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) 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 | -28.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 91 Moldova 0.2% compare
- 92 Turks and Caicos Islands 0.2% compare
- 93 Montenegro 0.1% compare
- 95 Jordan 0.1% compare
- 96 Uzbekistan 0.1% compare
- 97 Samoa 0.1% compare
More health data for Costa Rica
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.78 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.4617 % change on previous year (2090)
- Un projection of annual infant deaths 35 (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -3.42 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0248 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -3.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per capita 0.0259 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people practicing open defecation, rural in Costa Rica?
- People practicing open defecation, rural in Costa Rica was 0.1% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest people practicing open defecation, rural recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.2% in 2000.
- What is the lowest people practicing open defecation, rural recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2024.
- How does Costa Rica rank for people practicing open defecation, rural?
- Costa Rica ranks 94th out of 171 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people practicing open defecation, rural rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 79.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
People practicing open defecation refers to the percentage of the population defecating in the open, such as in fields, forest, bushes, open bodies of water, on beaches, in other open spaces or disposed of with solid waste.