Income share of the poorest 20% — all countries

Income share of the poorest 20% — Costa Rica

Income share of the poorest 20% in Costa Rica in 2025 — 4.7%. Ranked 4 in the world out of 4. Since 1981, the indicator has risen by 1.4 pp.

2025 4.7% +0.1 pp vs 2024
World rank 4of 4
Period maximum 5.2%1986
Period minimum 3.3%1981

Trend over time

1981–2025 · % of income

Income share of the poorest 20% — Costa Rica, 1981–202533.544.555.519811986199119962001200620112016202120251981: 3.3%1986: 5.2%1989: 3.8%1990: 3.8%1991: 3.7%1992: 4%1993: 3.9%1994: 4%1995: 4%1996: 3.8%1997: 4.2%1998: 4.3%1999: 4%2000: 3.9%2001: 3.5%2002: 3.5%2003: 3.7%2004: 4%2005: 4.2%2006: 4.1%2007: 4.3%2008: 4.3%2009: 4%2010: 4.4%2011: 4.2%2012: 4.2%2013: 4.1%2014: 4.2%2015: 4.3%2016: 4.2%2017: 4.4%2018: 4.3%2019: 4.4%2020: 4%2021: 4.3%2022: 4.5%2023: 4.5%2024: 4.6%2025: 4.7%
Change over the period: +1.4 pp Annual average: 0.03 pp
Income share of the poorest 20% — Costa Rica, by year Costa Rica All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2025 4.7 +0.1 pp
2024 4.6 +0.1 pp
2023 4.5 +0 pp
2022 4.5 +0.2 pp
2021 4.3 +0.3 pp
2020 4 −0.4 pp
2019 4.4 +0.1 pp
2018 4.3 −0.1 pp
2017 4.4 +0.2 pp
2016 4.2 −0.1 pp
2015 4.3 +0.1 pp
2014 4.2 +0.1 pp
2013 4.1 −0.1 pp
2012 4.2 +0 pp
2011 4.2 −0.2 pp
2010 4.4 +0.4 pp
2009 4 −0.3 pp
2008 4.3 +0 pp
2007 4.3 +0.2 pp
2006 4.1 −0.1 pp
2005 4.2 +0.2 pp
2004 4 +0.3 pp
2003 3.7 +0.2 pp
2002 3.5 +0 pp
2001 3.5 −0.4 pp
2000 3.9 −0.1 pp
1999 4 −0.3 pp
1998 4.3 +0.1 pp
1997 4.2 +0.4 pp
1996 3.8 −0.2 pp
1995 4 +0 pp
1994 4 +0.1 pp
1993 3.9 −0.1 pp
1992 4 +0.3 pp
1991 3.7 −0.1 pp
1990 3.8 +0 pp
1989 3.8 —
1986 5.2 —
1981 3.3 —

About the indicator

The share of total income or consumption that goes to the poorest twenty percent of the population. Under complete equality it would be twenty percent; in the most equal countries it comes to about nine, in the most unequal to about three. The indicator reads more plainly than the Gini index: instead of collapsing the whole distribution into a single number, it says outright how much goes to those who get the least.

Important: There are no aggregates for country groups: the top and bottom quintiles of a group are not a union of national quintiles, and they cannot be computed from country shares. The same reason as with the Gini index.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.