10 answers, 4 from Costa Rica's own official bodies, with a link to each figure.
Government spending on education in Costa Rica was 5.31% of GDP in 2023, down from 5.55% in 2022 and 6.25% in 2021, according to the World Bank's education expenditure series, based on UNESCO data. The gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education was 55.02% in 2019, the latest year in the World Bank's tertiary enrolment series.
Spending as a share of GDP changes with the size of the economy as well as with the education budget. A gross enrolment ratio counts all students enrolled, whatever their age, against the population of the usual age group. The Ministry of Public Education runs public schools and publishes school statistics.
1,058,512 students enrolled in Costa Rica's education system at the start of the 2025 school year, down from 1,088,499 in 2024 and a peak of 1,189,839 in 2021, according to the Ministry of Public Education's 2025 enrolment tables. 443,616 were in primary school, 461,643 in secondary and 122,311 in pre-school.
946,046 students attended public schools, 92,447 private schools and 20,019 subsidised private schools. The figures are initial enrolment, counted at the start of the year. The MEP's education statistics page also publishes repetition, dropout and pass rates.
4.05% of Costa Rica's secondary students left school during the 2024 school year, according to the Ministry of Public Education's 2024 intra-year dropout tables. That was 15,728 students, compared with 4.10% in 2023. In primary school the rate was 0.07%, and across the system it was 1.64%.
The MEP measures "exclusión intra-anual" as the fall in enrolment between the start and end of the school year, so it can be negative where pupils join during the year. Rates are higher in night schools: 4,364 students left technical night secondary programmes in 2024.
Adult literacy in Costa Rica was 97.41% of people aged 15 and over at the 2011 census, the latest figure on World Bank Open Data, based on UNESCO data. It was 94.87% in 2000.
The figure counts people who can read and write a short simple sentence about daily life. Results of INEC's 2022 census had not been added to the series when checked on 15 October 2026.
The figures below use one definition for every country, so they can differ from national figures.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics puts net primary school enrolment in Costa Rica at 97.3% in 2018. The peak was 98.5% in 2012 and the low 96.3% in 2017. It is 2nd highest of 17 in Latin America & Caribbean, where the median is 92.9%. Of 69 countries with 2018 data, 8th highest.
In 2024, gross secondary school enrolment in Costa Rica was 121.8%, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The peak was 138.9% in 2021 and the low 79.2% in 2005. Latin America & Caribbean median: 91.6%; Costa Rica is 2nd highest of 22. World rank, highest first: 8th of 100.
55.0%: that is gross tertiary enrolment in Costa Rica for 2019, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. No year since 2011 has been higher. It is 5th highest of 17 in Latin America & Caribbean, where the median is 44.8%. Of 126 countries with 2019 data, 53rd highest.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2023, is 5.3% of GDP. Since 2006 it has ranged from 4.6% of GDP (2006) to 7.1% of GDP (2017). Across Latin America & Caribbean the middle value was 3.8% of GDP, and Costa Rica placed 4th highest of 26. World rank, highest first: 22nd of 112.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2018, is 12. Since 2005 it has ranged from 12 (2017) to 21 (2005). Latin America & Caribbean median: 18; Costa Rica is 17th highest of 18. Of 85 countries with 2018 data, 75th highest.
According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the primary completion rate in Costa Rica was 106.4% in 2024. No year since 2005 has been higher. Latin America & Caribbean median: 93.9%; Costa Rica is 2nd highest of 19. Worldwide: 10th of 104.
Read on 14 October 2026. Definitions · Report an error