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Country profile

Costa Rica

The latest open data on emissions, energy and forests, compared with ten years earlier and with the world average.

In 2024, 1.7 tonnes of CO₂ per person were emitted on average, from fossil fuels and industry. The world average is 4.7.

Compared with 2014, the value has risen by 6%.

100% of electricity comes from renewables and nuclear (2024).

Forests cover 60.4% of the land (2023).

From 2001 to 2025, trees disappeared from 294,515 hectares: 7.5% of the area that was tree-covered in 2000.

Open the country in the map →The green

All indicators

Latest available value, ten-year change (green if it moves in the direction that lightens the load on the planet, red if the opposite) and the world average in the same year.

IndicatorLatest valueIn 10 yearsWorldSince 1990
Climate
CO₂ per persontonnes of CO₂ per person per year1.712024+0.094.73
Consumption-based CO₂ per persontonnes of CO₂ per person per year2.882023+0.074.71
Greenhouse gases per person (incl. land use)tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per person (all greenhouse gases converted to CO₂)2.922024−0.566.67
Methane per persontonnes of CO₂ equivalent per person1.082024+0.141.16
CO₂ from deforestation and land use per persontonnes of CO₂ per person per year-0.192024−0.640.56
Share of historical CO₂ emissions% of all CO₂ emitted worldwide since 17500.0120240.00100.00
CO₂ imported (+) or exported (−) in goods% of the country's emissions73.42023−1.50.0
CO₂ per unit of GDPkg of CO₂ per dollar of wealth produced0.1002022−0.0210.288
CO₂ per km² of territorytonnes of CO₂ per km² per year1712024+20—
Energy
Primary energy per personkWh of energy per person per year9,0052023+55221,286
Electricity
Renewable share of electricity%99.92024+10.131.9
Low-carbon electricity (renewables and nuclear)%99.92024+10.140.9
Solar share of electricity%0.82024+0.66.9
Wind share of electricity%11.32024+4.08.1
Coal share of electricity%0.020240.034.1
Carbon intensity of electricitygrams of CO₂ equivalent per kWh of electricity252024−68471
Green
Forest cover% of land covered by forest60.42023+3.2—

Trees and forests

Hectares where trees were cut or burned each year (areas with at least 30% canopy), from 2001 to 2025.

2001: 15,483 ha2002: 13,300 ha2003: 8,279 ha2004: 9,766 ha2005: 16,535 ha2006: 10,058 ha2007: 11,464 ha2008: 21,891 ha2009: 22,427 ha2010: 13,178 ha2011: 10,504 ha2012: 10,388 ha2013: 7,789 ha2014: 10,910 ha2015: 3,302 ha2016: 13,843 ha2017: 22,051 ha2018: 12,334 ha2019: 11,489 ha2020: 8,249 ha2021: 7,851 ha2022: 8,563 ha2023: 9,050 ha2024: 8,299 ha2025: 7,512 ha
200122,427 ha max2025

On average, from 2001 to 2025, the country's forests removed 17.5 million tonnes of CO₂ from the air each year and released 6.5 through logging and fires.

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Sources: Global Carbon Project, Energy Institute and Ember (via Our World in Data), FAO (via the World Bank), Global Forest Watch (University of Maryland and World Resources Institute). Details on the data page. Data