Costa Rica birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in Costa Rica chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in Costa Rica was 1.33 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 2003. In 1993, the fertility rate was 2.93 — a -54.6% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Costa Rica	World
1960	6.71	4.69
1961	6.65	4.56
1962	6.54	5.02
1963	6.39	5.31
1964	6.19	5.13
1965	5.96	5.08
1966	5.7	4.97
1967	5.42	4.87
1968	5.03	4.98
1969	4.84	4.88
1970	4.59	4.84
1971	4.36	4.69
1972	4.16	4.55
1973	3.99	4.42
1974	3.89	4.26
1975	3.8	4.07
1976	3.75	3.97
1977	3.7	3.84
1978	3.66	3.77
1979	3.65	3.76
1980	3.58	3.73
1981	3.56	3.71
1982	3.54	3.72
1983	3.53	3.59
1984	3.52	3.57
1985	3.51	3.53
1986	3.45	3.51
1987	3.38	3.48
1988	3.31	3.39
1989	3.24	3.35
1990	3.17	3.31
1991	3.08	3.13
1992	3	3.04
1993	2.93	2.97
1994	2.86	2.92
1995	2.78	2.87
1996	2.68	2.82
1997	2.59	2.78
1998	2.53	2.75
1999	2.48	2.72
2000	2.41	2.73
2001	2.31	2.69
2002	2.16	2.66
2003	2.08	2.64
2004	2.03	2.63
2005	2.04	2.61
2006	1.94	2.61
2007	1.95	2.6
2008	1.98	2.6
2009	1.95	2.59
2010	1.83	2.57
2011	1.88	2.55
2012	1.85	2.56
2013	1.78	2.53
2014	1.8	2.52
2015	1.8	2.49
2016	1.75	2.49
2017	1.71	2.46
2018	1.71	2.39
2019	1.6	2.35
2020	1.45	2.28
2021	1.35	2.25
2022	1.34	2.22
2023	1.33	2.2
2024	1.32	2.19
2025	1.31	2.18
2026	1.31	2.18
2027	1.31	2.17
2028	1.3	2.16
2029	1.31	2.15
2030	1.31	2.14
2031	1.31	2.13
2032	1.32	2.12
2033	1.32	2.12
2034	1.32	2.11
2035	1.33	2.1
2036	1.33	2.09
2037	1.34	2.09
2038	1.34	2.08
2039	1.35	2.08
2040	1.35	2.08
2041	1.35	2.07
2042	1.36	2.07
2043	1.36	2.07
2044	1.37	2.07
2045	1.37	2.06
2046	1.37	2.06
2047	1.38	2.06
2048	1.38	2.05
2049	1.38	2.05
2050	1.38	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 8.29% were to women under 20 years old, 49.6% to women ages 20-29, and 42.1% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 15.5%, 56.4%, and 28.1% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in Costa Rica by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	Costa Rica	World
1960	46.4%	37.4%
1961	46.6%	37.5%
1962	46.7%	37.6%
1963	46.7%	37.8%
1964	46.6%	38%
1965	46.5%	38%
1966	46.3%	38%
1967	45.9%	38%
1968	45.5%	37.9%
1969	45%	37.8%
1970	44.4%	37.7%
1971	43.8%	37.6%
1972	43.1%	37.5%
1973	42.3%	37.3%
1974	41.5%	37.2%
1975	40.8%	37.1%
1976	40%	36.9%
1977	39.2%	36.7%
1978	38.6%	36.3%
1979	38%	35.9%
1980	37.5%	35.5%
1981	37.1%	35.2%
1982	36.7%	34.9%
1983	36.5%	34.6%
1984	36.4%	34.3%
1985	36.3%	34%
1986	36.3%	33.8%
1987	36.2%	33.6%
1988	36.2%	33.4%
1989	36.1%	33.2%
1990	36%	33%
1991	35.7%	32.9%
1992	35.4%	32.7%
1993	35%	32.5%
1994	34.6%	32.3%
1995	34.1%	32.1%
1996	33.6%	31.8%
1997	33%	31.5%
1998	32.4%	31.1%
1999	31.8%	30.8%
2000	31.1%	30.4%
2001	30.5%	30%
2002	29.8%	29.6%
2003	29.1%	29.2%
2004	28.4%	28.8%
2005	27.7%	28.5%
2006	27.1%	28.1%
2007	26.5%	27.9%
2008	25.9%	27.6%
2009	25.4%	27.5%
2010	24.9%	27.3%
2011	24.3%	27.1%
2012	23.9%	27%
2013	23.4%	26.9%
2014	23%	26.8%
2015	22.5%	26.6%
2016	22.1%	26.5%
2017	21.8%	26.4%
2018	21.4%	26.2%
2019	21.1%	26%
2020	20.7%	25.8%
2021	20.3%	25.6%
2022	19.8%	25.3%
2023	19.3%	25%
2024	18.8%	24.7%
2025	18.3%	24.4%
2026	17.8%	24.1%
2027	17.3%	23.8%
2028	16.9%	23.4%
2029	16.4%	23.1%
2030	16%	22.8%
2031	15.5%	22.6%
2032	15.1%	22.3%
2033	14.7%	22.1%
2034	14.4%	21.9%
2035	14.1%	21.7%
2036	13.9%	21.6%
2037	13.8%	21.5%
2038	13.7%	21.4%
2039	13.6%	21.3%
2040	13.5%	21.2%
2041	13.4%	21.1%
2042	13.3%	21%
2043	13.2%	21%
2044	13.2%	20.9%
2045	13.1%	20.8%
2046	13%	20.7%
2047	12.9%	20.7%
2048	12.8%	20.6%
2049	12.7%	20.5%
2050	12.6%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in Costa Rica was 46.4% in 1960, 35% in 1993, and 18.8% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of Costa Rica.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in Costa Rica, excluding migration, has been +0.74% annually. On average, 36,262 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Costa Rica
1960	48,857
1961	50,149
1962	51,046
1963	51,403
1964	51,435
1965	51,196
1966	50,755
1967	50,193
1968	48,361
1969	48,790
1970	48,398
1971	48,341
1972	48,417
1973	48,943
1974	50,349
1975	51,979
1976	54,019
1977	56,122
1978	58,327
1979	60,984
1980	62,561
1981	64,632
1982	66,826
1983	68,972
1984	71,062
1985	72,776
1986	73,211
1987	73,188
1988	72,944
1989	72,327
1990	71,727
1991	70,506
1992	69,830
1993	69,016
1994	68,336
1995	67,585
1996	66,094
1997	64,954
1998	64,788
1999	64,922
2000	64,268
2001	62,199
2002	58,388
2003	56,743
2004	55,769
2005	57,139
2006	54,177
2007	55,244
2008	56,491
2009	55,757
2010	50,803
2011	52,884
2012	52,036
2013	49,227
2014	49,559
2015	49,077
2016	45,565
2017	43,471
2018	42,469
2019	37,682
2020	29,164
2021	20,119
2022	21,409
2023	24,109

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in Costa Rica was 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.02% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -33.3% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Costa Rica	World
1985	43	460
1986	42	438
1987	41	429
1988	40	414
1989	40	401
1990	40	391
1991	39	395
1992	39	395
1993	39	389
1994	39	382
1995	39	371
1996	39	366
1997	38	358
1998	37	360
1999	36	340
2000	36	328
2001	35	321
2002	34	311
2003	33	301
2004	33	291
2005	31	283
2006	30	276
2007	30	269
2008	30	264
2009	29	258
2010	29	253
2011	28	247
2012	27	239
2013	27	235
2014	27	231
2015	26	228
2016	27	220
2017	27	215
2018	28	211
2019	26	207
2020	34	211
2021	44	242
2022	27	203
2023	24	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in Costa Rica was 10.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 1.05% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 13.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Costa Rica	World
1960	9.62%	18.5%
1961	9.36%	18.1%
1962	9.27%	17.8%
1963	9.25%	17.5%
1964	9.18%	17.7%
1965	9.02%	17.5%
1966	8.78%	17.3%
1967	8.49%	17%
1968	8.17%	16.5%
1969	7.85%	15.5%
1970	7.48%	15.2%
1971	7.02%	15.1%
1972	6.45%	14.4%
1973	5.82%	14.1%
1974	5.17%	13.7%
1975	4.54%	13.4%
1976	3.93%	13%
1977	3.39%	12.5%
1978	2.96%	12.1%
1979	2.65%	11.7%
1980	2.45%	11.4%
1981	2.33%	11%
1982	2.29%	10.8%
1983	2.27%	10.6%
1984	2.25%	10.4%
1985	2.2%	10.1%
1986	2.12%	9.81%
1987	2.01%	9.47%
1988	1.89%	9.31%
1989	1.78%	9.02%
1990	1.69%	8.81%
1991	1.62%	8.66%
1992	1.57%	8.46%
1993	1.53%	8.19%
1994	1.51%	7.98%
1995	1.49%	7.76%
1996	1.47%	7.52%
1997	1.45%	7.28%
1998	1.41%	7.05%
1999	1.36%	6.76%
2000	1.31%	6.48%
2001	1.26%	6.21%
2002	1.22%	5.94%
2003	1.18%	5.65%
2004	1.15%	5.43%
2005	1.13%	5.16%
2006	1.12%	4.92%
2007	1.11%	4.7%
2008	1.09%	4.5%
2009	1.07%	4.31%
2010	1.05%	4.11%
2011	1.02%	3.97%
2012	0.98%	3.77%
2013	0.95%	3.61%
2014	0.92%	3.48%
2015	0.9%	3.35%
2016	0.89%	3.23%
2017	0.89%	3.11%
2018	0.89%	2.97%
2019	0.91%	2.86%
2020	0.94%	2.75%
2021	0.97%	2.66%
2022	1.01%	2.59%
2023	1.05%	2.49%