World homicide · Latin America & Caribbean
Costa Rica
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, UNODC via the World Bank · data vintage April 8, 2026.
Homicide rate (2023)
17.8per 100k
≈ 906 deaths (est.)
Year-over-year
+37.5%
2022 → 2023
vs. world average
+12.6per 100k
World rate 5.2 in 2023
Homicide rate since 2018
Per 100,000 people. Costa Rica compared with the United States and the world average over the same years. Gaps in a line are years the country did not report.
Year-by-year
| Year | Rate /100k | Deaths (est.) | World rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 11.8 | 585 | 5.7 | 4.9 |
| 2019 | 11.3 | 563 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| 2020 | 11.3 | 570 | 5.3 | 6.3 |
| 2021 | 11.6 | 588 | 5.5 | 6.8 |
| 2022 | 12.9 | 656 | 5.3 | 6.5 |
| 2023 | 17.8 | 906 | 5.2 | 5.8 |
— means Costa Rica did not report that year. Death counts are estimates: the UNODC rate times that year's population.
Methodology
Source: UNODC intentional homicide via the World Bank (indicator VC.IHR.PSRC.P5). Intentional homicide is an unlawful death inflicted with the intent to cause death or serious injury. War deaths do not count.
Countries report on their own schedules. Years Costa Rica did not report render as "—" and break the trend line rather than bridging the gap. Year-over-year change is shown only for two back-to-back reported years.
See the world page methodology for the full rules: ranking gates, the small-country flag and how the world average is built.