Human Development & Quality of Life in Costa Rica
Human Development
UNDP places Costa Rica at rank 62 with a 2023 HDI of 0.833, a very high human development result. The aggregate hides useful detail: Education combines 16.3 expected years of schooling with 8.8 mean years already attained. The profile also records that the income component uses GNI per capita of $23,417 in 2021 PPP dollars.
What sits inside Costa Rica's HDI
The 2023 HDI profile for Costa Rica rests on life expectancy of 80.8, schooling measures of 16.3 expected years and 8.8 mean years, plus GNI per capita of $23,417 in 2021 PPP dollars. The page keeps those components visible so the composite index is not read in isolation. When looking across the UNDP tables, read the value with its stated unit before drawing conclusions from small differences.
Inequality changes the headline
IHDI reframes Costa Rica's HDI by accounting for unequal outcomes within the population. That is a different question from how satisfied people say they are with life.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
Beyond HDI, Costa Rica's UNDP profile also reports GDI 0.975, GII 0.217, PHDI 0.774. Each measure has a different definition, so they are not combined.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
This profile does not show a verified comparable life-satisfaction value for Costa Rica. A missing source value is shown as unavailable.
What Costa Rica's numbers say together
For a fuller view of Costa Rica, the page shows IHDI 0.678 with a 18.6% loss; PHDI 0.774 after a 7.1% adjustment; GDI 0.975. Their scopes differ, which is why the page presents them side by side rather than blending them. For the profile as a whole, keep missing fields explicitly missing so the source year is not silently treated as the publication year.
Costa Rica's HDI is 0.833 for 2023, placing it at UNDP rank 62. The index summarizes health, education and income rather than every dimension of day-to-day well-being. When looking across the UNDP tables, treat the value as the published measure so the page stays faithful to the published evidence.
The IHDI is 0.678, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 18.6% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 0.975 in group 1; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
The PHDI is 0.774, with a 7.1% adjustment from the HDI value in UNDP's 2023 table.
Frequently asked questions
What is Costa Rica's HDI?
Costa Rica's 2023 Human Development Index is 0.833, corresponding to UNDP rank 62 in the 2025 report.
How does inequality affect Costa Rica's HDI?
UNDP reports IHDI 0.678 for Costa Rica, which is 18.6% below the headline HDI after inequality across the three dimensions is taken into account.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
Costa Rica's page adds a quality-of-life measure only when a comparable dated observation can be sourced. No proxy is inserted for a value the source does not report.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. The HDI calculation does not include every aspect of quality of life. Life satisfaction remains distinct from the health, education and income dimensions used by HDI.
Sources & methodology
Sources for the development indicators and definitions shown above.
View sources used for this page
Primary source for 2023 HDI and its components, plus IHDI, GDI, GII and PHDI where reported.
Report edition underlying the 2023 human-development indices and ranking.
Data note: Reference years are shown with each indicator; unavailable observations remain unfilled.