country profile

Costa Rica

Latin America & CaribbeanUpper middle income5.15M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

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Emerging readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Infrastructure is a strength, but Access & Parity lags

Costa Rica demonstrates early-stage readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (46th percentile worldwide). Investments are generating initial gains, yet substantial gaps persist in several dimensions.

49.04Composite score
Global percentile
46th
Global rank
#97
Regional rank
#14
Viewing data for
Progressing readiness
Infrastructure
64.82
60th percentileGlobal avg. 55.13
Emerging readiness
Human Capital
57.90
75th percentileGlobal avg. 47.36
Emerging readiness
Innovation
47.86
60th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19
Progressing readiness
Governance
64.63
80th percentileGlobal avg. 47.46
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
10.00
33rd percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Costa Rica remains in the emerging-readiness range, with progress visible but major gaps still limiting future readiness. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.

Wide gaps between dimensions reveal structural weaknesses that slow coordinated progress. High internet adoption enables broad participation in digital learning and innovation.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Regionally, School Access and Gender Parity lags peers the most, signalling where investment could have the highest impact.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Places 97th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 14th within Latin America & Caribbean.

Scores range from Infrastructure (64.8) to Access & Parity (10.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
341Chile69.65
402Argentina63.92
453Uruguay61.82
Cayman IslandsMicrostate59.77
St. Kitts and NevisMicrostate57.14
664Peru57.02
725Colombia56.38
Antigua and BarbudaMicrostate55.23
766Mexico55.12
Turks and Caicos IslandsMicrostate54.70
787Trinidad and Tobago54.30
GrenadaMicrostate53.80
818Brazil53.69
839Cuba53.32
8410Puerto Rico52.82
BarbadosMicrostate51.64
DominicaMicrostate51.41
8911Dominican Republic51.27
9012Ecuador51.12
St. Vincent and the GrenadinesMicrostate50.32
St. LuciaMicrostate50.05
9313Bolivia49.80
9714Costa Rica49.04
ArubaMicrostate48.09
Virgin Islands (U.S.)Microstate47.85
10015Jamaica47.54
St. Martin (French part)Microstate47.43
10116Panama47.30
10217Belize46.83
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)Microstate46.32
10518Venezuela, RB45.33
10619Bahamas, The45.13
British Virgin IslandsMicrostate44.78
10720Paraguay44.77
CuracaoMicrostate44.47
11921Suriname36.89
12122Guyana36.38
12423El Salvador35.82
13224Honduras32.99
13925Guatemala30.91
14126Nicaragua29.44
15927HaitiFCS24.28