Costa Rica (2025, estimate)
2,207.8
USD PPP per capita
+7.3% YoY
Government share
69.5
% of total (2024)
Private share
30.5
% of total (2024)
10-year change
+60.9
% since 2015

Data

Current Health Expenditure per Capita in Costa Rica (2025) — source data. OECD.
Year USD PPP per capita YoY Change
2025 2,207.8 +7.3%
2024 2,057.7 +8.2%
2023 1,901.8 +8.1%
2022 1,759.4 +2.9%
2021 1,709.3 +8.1%
2020 1,581.4 -1.4%
2019 1,603.6 +5.3%
2018 1,522.3 +6.0%
2017 1,436.6 +2.4%
2016 1,403.2 +2.3%
2015 1,372.2 +5.4%
2014 1,302.3 +6.0%
2013 1,228.6 +1.6%
2012 1,209 +3.5%
2011 1,167.5 n/a

About this Dataset

Costa Rica recorded 2,207.8 USD PPP per capita in current health expenditure in 2025, an OECD estimate up +150.1 from 2024's finalized figure of 2,057.7. Spending has grown in most years since 2011, when the series started at 1,167.6 USD PPP, with the steepest jump, +156.0, coming in 2024.

Government and compulsory insurance schemes typically fund the large majority of this spending: in 2024 they covered about 69.5% of the total (1,430.0 USD PPP per capita), with voluntary insurance and household out-of-pocket payments making up the remaining 30.5% (627.7 USD PPP). This government-heavy split is consistent with Costa Rica's social insurance system, run through the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social.

Compared with OECD peers, Costa Rica's per-capita spending in 2024 (2,057.7 USD PPP) was roughly 33.2% of the unweighted average of about 6,205.8 USD PPP across the other 37 OECD member countries for that year — well below the United States (14,823.1 USD PPP) and Chile (4,002.9 USD PPP), and close to regional peer Colombia (2,089.8 USD PPP). The chart above shows the full 2011–2025 trend; the table below lists annual values with year-on-year changes.

Data sourced from the OECD System of Health Accounts (SHA) via SDMX REST API, filtered to Costa Rica (CRI), total current health expenditure across all financing schemes, converted to USD at purchasing power parity. The most recent year is flagged provisional by the OECD and may be revised; 2018 is flagged as a break in series. The OECD average cited above is an unweighted mean across the 37 other current OECD member countries, computed from the same dataset and vintage.

Frequently Asked Questions

This indicator tracks total current spending on health care per person in Costa Rica, converted to USD at purchasing power parity (PPP) so levels are comparable across countries. It covers spending by government schemes, private insurance, and out-of-pocket payments, published annually by the OECD under its System of Health Accounts (SHA). The most recent reading is 2,207.8 USD PPP in 2025 (estimate).

The series runs from 2011 through 2025, though the most recent year is flagged as an OECD estimate. The last fully finalized observation is 2024, at 2,057.7 USD PPP per capita. Figures are typically revised as national health accounts are finalized, so the 2025 value may shift in future OECD updates. 2018 is also flagged as a break in series, likely reflecting a methodology or classification change.

In 2024 — the most recent year with complete data across OECD members — Costa Rica recorded 2,057.7 USD PPP per capita, roughly 33.2% of the unweighted average of about 6,205.8 USD PPP across the other 37 OECD member countries for the same year. Costa Rica is typically among the lower per-capita spenders within the OECD, well below the United States (14,823.1 USD PPP in 2024) and Chile (4,002.9 USD PPP), and close to regional peer Colombia (2,089.8 USD PPP), though still ahead of Mexico (1,653.4 USD PPP).

In 2024, government and compulsory schemes covered an estimated 1,430.0 USD PPP per capita (about 69.5% of the total), while voluntary insurance and household out-of-pocket payments accounted for roughly 627.7 USD PPP (about 30.5%). Costa Rica's government-funded share is typically higher than in several Latin American OECD peers, reflecting its long-standing social insurance model (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social).

Per-capita spending has risen in most years since 2011, from 1,167.6 USD PPP that year to 2,207.8 USD PPP in 2025 — an increase of roughly 89% over the period and about 60.9% just since 2015. The largest single-year jump came in 2024, at +156.0 USD PPP, with 2023 and 2025 also seeing sizable increases. The only year-on-year decline in the series was in 2020, likely tied to pandemic-related disruptions to routine care spending.