Prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Prevalence of current tobacco use was 7.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica, 2000–2024
Source: Global Health Observatory Data Repository, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of adults.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 7.9% for prevalence of current tobacco use in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 9 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.7% on the previous year and down 24.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica peaked at 17.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 7.9%, in 2024.
That places Costa Rica 149th out of 166 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
Prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of adults | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 17.3% | — |
| 2005 | 14.6% | -15.6% |
| 2007 | 13.7% | -6.2% |
| 2010 | 12.4% | -9.5% |
| 2015 | 10.5% | -15.3% |
| 2020 | 9.0% | -14.3% |
| 2022 | 8.4% | -6.7% |
| 2023 | 8.2% | -2.4% |
| 2024 | 7.9% | -3.7% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 7.9% is below the median for high income countries, which is 21.2%, 37% of the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 7.9% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 11.8%, 67% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.2% | 13.7% | 17.3% | 3 |
| 2010s | 11.4% | 10.5% | 12.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 8.4% | 7.9% | 9.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
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)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,632 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 35 deaths (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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica?
- Prevalence of current tobacco use in Costa Rica was 7.9% in 2024, according to Global Health Observatory Data Repository, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest prevalence of current tobacco use recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 17.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest prevalence of current tobacco use recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.9% in 2024.
- How does Costa Rica rank for prevalence of current tobacco use?
- Costa Rica ranks 149th out of 166 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of current tobacco use rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Observatory Data Repository, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Prevalence of current tobacco use (% of adults). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The percentage of the population ages 15 years and over who currently use any tobacco product (smoked and/or smokeless tobacco) on a daily or non-daily basis. Tobacco products include cigarettes, pipes, cigars, cigarillos, waterpipes (hookah, shisha), bidis, kretek, heated tobacco products, and all forms of smokeless (oral and nasal) tobacco. Tobacco products exclude e-cigarettes (which do not contain tobacco), “e-cigars”, “e-hookahs”, JUUL and “e-pipes”. The rates are age-standardized to the WHO Standard Population.