Costa Rica records the region's largest fall in unemployment rate over three years (−9 pp)
According to the ECLAC annual average rate series, the country went from 16.4% in 2021 to 7.5% in 2024. It ranks 4th out of 14 analysed countries in 2024, followed by Colombia with a 3.6 pp reduction.
Current verified finding
Costa Rica: the unemployment rate fell 9 pp in three years, from 16.4% in 2021 to 7.5% in 2024, the region's largest fall.
Evidence
Costa Rica: unemployment 2018–2024
The finding preserves the reviewed data even when the source publishes an update.
Snapshot technical details
Query fingerprint: sigev_5bd643e65abf1 · The text, result, and records remain fixed to this review.
How we calculated it
We query series unemployment_rate_pct of dataset cepal-social-anual (CEPALSTAT) for the 14 countries between 2021 and 2024 in VerDat's normalised layer; for each country reporting both years we compute the change between 2021 and 2024 and take the largest fall. We require at least 8 countries with both years and a change of at least 3 pp; the rank is by 2024 value among those 14 countries. The chart shows the country's series; the values and the change are re-verified automatically every day.
7 rows match the query; 7 results remain in the summary.
What it means and what it does not
The comparison uses the harmonised ECLAC basis and may differ from official figures published by each country under its own methodology. It includes only the 14 countries reporting data for both years. A three-year window shows the specific change between two points in time, but does not explain its causes or determine whether the trend will continue.
Every indicator is a rate, index or ratio — compare and rank, never sum. Survey years differ by country; missing years are gaps, not zeros.
Verification
Records within the query
Records preserved in the editorial snapshot, using the same filters and partition as the chart.
| Period | Value | Country | Year | Indicator | Indicator group | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 7.45 | costa-rica | 2024 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2023 | 8.89 | costa-rica | 2023 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2022 | 12.23 | costa-rica | 2022 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2021 | 16.45 | costa-rica | 2021 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2020 | 19.61 | costa-rica | 2020 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2019 | 11.76 | costa-rica | 2019 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2018 | 10.28 | costa-rica | 2018 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2017 | 9.07 | costa-rica | 2017 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2016 | 9.54 | costa-rica | 2016 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2015 | 9.61 | costa-rica | 2015 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2014 | 9.62 | costa-rica | 2014 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2013 | 9.38 | costa-rica | 2013 | Tasa de desocupación, ambos sexos | empleo | Not applicable (annual) |