Q COSTARICA — Costa Rica was included by The Washington Post among the “25 good news events that occurred in 2025“, after in July of this year it became the most recent country to reach the category of high-income economy, according to the World Bank’s annual classification.
The recognition appears in position #21 on the list published by the American newspaper, which highlights that the change in category occurred after multiple years of solid economic growth.
21. Costa Rica became the newest country to earn the status of being a “high-income” country, according to the World Bank, thanks to multiple years of strong growth.
According to the World Bank, Costa Rica moved from the upper-middle income category to high income, after registering an average growth of 4.7% in the last three years.
In 2024, the Costa Rican economy grew 4.3%, a performance that consolidated the progress, driven mainly by private consumption and investment.
The organization also pointed out that in 2023, the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, measured under the Atlas method, was already close to the upper threshold of the medium-high category, which left the country on the verge of the change that took place this year.
The promotion implies greater international recognition of the country’s productive capacity, its macroeconomic stability and the dynamism of key sectors of the economy.
This improves the perception of Costa Rica as a destination for foreign investment, facilitates access to credit under better conditions and reinforces its positioning before international organizations.
However, specialists have pointed out that the challenge now is to translate this growth into greater well-being for the population, through improvements in the quality of services, the reduction of inequalities and the strengthening of formal employment.
As it is a classification that is reviewed every year, Costa Rica’s permanence in this category will depend on its ability to sustain economic growth and improve per capita income over time.
After the publication of the Washington Post, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Manuel Tovar, reacted on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
El Editorial del @washingtonpost menciona la declaratoria de Costa Rica 🇨🇷 como país de renta alta como una de “las 25 buenas cosas que ocurrieron en el 2025”. Nadie es profeta en su tierra. pic.twitter.com/LMywvgn0vn
— Manuel (@Manuel_Tovar_R) December 29, 2025