Q COSTA RICA — According to the World Bank’s 2024 measurements, Costa Rica has transitioned from the “upper-middle-income” category to the “high-income” group of countries.
The international organization made this announcement on Tuesday, July 1, via a post on its website.
Each year, the World Bank classifies the world’s economies into four groups according to their income level:
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- Low (25 countries)
- Lower-middle (50)
- Upper-middle (54)
- High (87)
This classification is based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita expressed in U.S. dollars. To summarize, this indicator is calculated by adding all the incomes of the country’s inhabitants to the total population.
The World Bank indicates that it uses the Atlas method, a technique used to convert a country’s GNI from its local currency to US dollars for the purpose of comparing economic size across nations, to make this measurement.
According to the World Bank, the classification not only reflects a country’s level of development, but also its potential to influence its development trajectory.
“It affects eligibility for official development assistance and concessional financing,” states the World Bank’s publication on the classification in general terms.
Screenshot of the World Bank’s publication on July 1, 2025.
According to World Bank records, Costa Rica belonged to the lower-middle-income category since 1987 (the first on record) and moved up to upper-middle-income in 2000. Twenty-five years later, it moved to the highest category.
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What happened to Costa Rica?
The World Bank highlighted the movements of some countries, including Costa Rica, whose economy has grown strongly recently, with an average growth rate of 4.7% over the last three years.
The publication states that by 2023, Costa Rica’s GNI per capita would be approaching the upper-middle-income threshold.
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However, the 4.3% growth rate in 2024, driven by strong domestic demand (private consumption and investment), was sufficient for Costa Rica to move up a category.
Costa Rica’s GNI per capita is $15,620, according to World Bank calculations. This places it above the threshold for the highest income category, which was US$13,936 in 2024. In 2023, Costa Rica’s GNI per capita was estimated at US$13,850.
That threshold was moved to US$14,005 and US$13,935 per capita for 2025 and 2026. In both cases, Costa Rica would remain in that group; however, we will have to wait for the corresponding measurements for each of those years.
The World Bank explained that the trend is for the threshold to increase, as will occur from 2024 to 2025. However, in 2026, the threshold will decrease due to the appreciation of the US dollar against other currencies.
Costa Rica’s economy is expected to continue growing this year and next; however, it will do so at rates below 4%, that is, slower than in recent years.
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