How's life in Costa Rica?

Figure 5.38 shows Costa Rica’s relative strengths and weaknesses in well-being with reference to both the OECD average and the average of the OECD partner countries considered in How’s Life? 2017 (i.e. Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and South Africa).

Costa Rica has several areas of strength relative to both the OECD and partner countries: At 1.6% in 2016, the long-term unemployment rate stood below both the OECD average (2%) and the average for the partner countries (4.5%). About 85% of Costa Ricans are satisfied with their local water quality, above the OECD average (79%), and well above that of the partner countries (66%). Air quality (air pollution by fine particulate matter, PM2.5) is also better than the average in both the OECD and partner countries.

With around 89% of the population reporting that they have friends or relatives whom they can count on in case of need, social support in Costa Rica is in line with the average in both the OECD (89%) and partner countries (90%).

There are also several outcomes where Costa Rica is above the average for the partner countries, but below the OECD average: Life expectancy at birth is 79.6 years, almost in line with the OECD average, but well above that of partner countries (71). A low share of Costa Ricans live in housing without basic sanitation (2.2%). The homicide rate is almost twice as high as the OECD average, but remains one of the lowest across the partner countries. 44% of Costa Ricans feel safe walking alone at night in the area where they live, very slightly higher than the 43% partner country average, but below the OECD average of almost 69%.

Costa Rica also has some areas of weakness compared to both the OECD and other partner countries: In 2016, the employment rate was 58.7%, below both the OECD average (67%) and the average among the partner countries (63.9%), and almost 28% of employees worked very long hours, among the highest in both the OECD and partner countries. Adults’ upper secondary educational attainment (40%) and students’ cognitive skills at age 15 are among the lowest in both the OECD and partner countries. Voter turnout (around 68% in 2014) falls marginally below the OECD average of 69% and the average among the partner countries (70%). Housing affordability is also worse than both the OECD average and the average for partner countries.

Figure 5.38. Current well-being strengths and weaknesses in Costa Rica
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Note : Both the OECD and partner country averages are typically population-weighted (see the online data annex for further details). Only headline well-being indicators with a complete or almost complete coverage of the OECD partner countries are considered (i.e. one or no missing countries per indicator).

 StatLink https://doi.org/10.1787/888933599574

Change in Costa Rica’s average well-being over the past 10 years

Dimension

Description

Change

Income and wealth

[No time series data available]

..

Jobs and earnings

Contrary to the OECD average trend, the employment rate dropped overall in the past 10 years in Costa Rica. The long-term unemployment rate has also worsened, from 1.0% in 2012 (the earliest available year) to 1.6% in 2016.

➘

➘

Housing conditions

Since 2005, the number of rooms per person has moderately improved in Costa Rica, from 1.1 to 1.2. Housing affordability has also improved slightly in recent years, with the share of income spent on housing costs falling from 20.1% in 2012 to 19.7% in 2014. Basic sanitation has become more widespread, and the share of people living without basic sanitary facilities between 2011 and 2015 was over a third lower than between 2005 and 2010.

➚

➚

➚

Work-life balance

Since 2010 there has been a large fall in the percentage of employees working 50 hours or more per week in Costa Rica, from 32.8% in 2010 to 27.6% in 2016.

➘

Health status

Life expectancy at birth in Costa Rica has increased by one-and-a-half years since 2005.

➚

Education and skills

The share of the adult working-age population having attained at least an upper secondary education has increased from 35% in 2005 to 39% in 2015.

➚

Social connections

The share of people who have relatives or friends whom they can count on to help in case of need has remained stable in Costa Rica since 2005, in contrast with the slight decrease recorded for the OECD average.

↔

Civic engagement

The percentage of votes cast among the population registered to vote has improved in Costa Rica in the past decade, from 65.2% in the 2006 presidential elections to 68.2% in 2014.

➚

Environmental quality

Satisfaction with local water quality has remained stable since 2005-07, and is still above the OECD average. Annual exposure to PM2.5 air pollution has risen by 23% since 2005, peaking in 2013.

↔

➘

Personal security

The rate of deaths due to assault in Costa Rica has risen slightly since 2005, and is now just over 1 percentage point higher. The share of the population who report feeling safe when walking alone at night has fallen to 46%, 4 percentage points lower than a decade earlier.

➘

➘

Subjective well-being

In Costa Rica, life satisfaction has remained relatively stable since 2005, but current levels are still above the OECD average.

↔

Note : For each indicator in every dimension: ➚ refers to an improvement; ↔ indicates little or no change; and ➘ signals deterioration. This is based on a comparison of the starting year (2005 in most cases) and the latest available year (usually 2015 or 2016). The order of the arrows shown in column three corresponds to that of the indicators mentioned in column two.

Costa Rica’s resources and risks for future well-being: Illustrative indicators

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