Demographic profile
Costa Rica is the 123rd most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.06% of everyone alive. Within Central America, it ranks 6 of 8.
Each day brings roughly 228 births and 95 deaths, adding about 48,577 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 0.9% annually, the population would double in roughly 78 years if the rate held. Real trajectories bend as fertility, mortality and migration shift, which is why the chart below shows both history and projection.
Among its first-level divisions, the largest by our modelled allocation is Puntarenas, holding an estimated 34.3% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 7 states and regions is in the table below — regional figures outside Sudan are modelled estimates built on real region names, and are flagged as such.
Literacy stands near 88.0% and adult smoking prevalence around 11.0%, with life expectancy at about 75.8 years. Baselines come from UN World Population Prospects, the World Bank, WHO surveys, WorldPop and HDX; the counters project them forward in real time — the method, and every caveat, is documented on our data sources page.
Quick answers
What is the population of Costa Rica in 2026? Approximately 5,376,454 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Costa Rica growing? About 0.9% per year — roughly 228 births and 95 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Costa Rica? Around 0.06% — ranked 123 worldwide by population.