Costa Rica: Shadow economy

The latest value from 2015 is 19.24 percent, a decline from 23.41 percent in 2014. In comparison, the world average is 27.78 percent, based on data from 158 countries. Historically, the average for Costa Rica from 1991 to 2015 is 24.46 percent. The minimum value, 19.24 percent, was reached in 2015 while the maximum of 28.63 percent was recorded in 1991. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

Definition: The shadow economy as percent of total annual GDP. Detailed methodology of the estimations can be obtained from the following International Monetary Fund working paper by Leandro Medina and Friedrich Schneider (2018): Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years? The series are discontinued but can still serve as a benchmark in calibration exercises.