Electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Electricity generation from low-carbon sources was 12.81 terawatt-hours in 2025. ▲ Rising
Electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica, 2000–2025
Source: Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in terawatt-hours.
Analysis
In 2025, electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica stood at 12.81 terawatt-hours. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 16.6% on the previous year and up 20.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica peaked at 12.81 terawatt-hours in 2025 and was at its lowest, 6.8 terawatt-hours, in 2000.
That places Costa Rica 68th out of 214 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | terawatt-hours | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.8 terawatt-hours | — |
| 2001 | 6.8 terawatt-hours | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 7.3 terawatt-hours | +7.4% |
| 2003 | 7.14 terawatt-hours | -2.2% |
| 2004 | 7.91 terawatt-hours | +10.8% |
| 2005 | 7.92 terawatt-hours | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 8.09 terawatt-hours | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 8.26 terawatt-hours | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 8.72 terawatt-hours | +5.6% |
| 2009 | 8.79 terawatt-hours | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 8.87 terawatt-hours | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 8.89 terawatt-hours | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 9.28 terawatt-hours | +4.4% |
| 2013 | 8.99 terawatt-hours | -3.1% |
| 2014 | 9.13 terawatt-hours | +1.6% |
| 2015 | 10.66 terawatt-hours | +16.8% |
| 2016 | 10.67 terawatt-hours | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 11.24 terawatt-hours | +5.3% |
| 2018 | 11.28 terawatt-hours | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 11.32 terawatt-hours | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 11.7 terawatt-hours | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 12.73 terawatt-hours | +8.8% |
| 2022 | 12.44 terawatt-hours | -2.3% |
| 2023 | 11.71 terawatt-hours | -5.9% |
| 2024 | 10.99 terawatt-hours | -6.1% |
| 2025 | 12.81 terawatt-hours | +16.6% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 12.81 terawatt-hours is above the median for high income countries, which is 9.82 terawatt-hours, 1.3× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 12.81 terawatt-hours is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.92 terawatt-hours, 13.9× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.77 terawatt-hours | 6.8 terawatt-hours | 8.79 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.03 terawatt-hours | 8.87 terawatt-hours | 11.32 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.06 terawatt-hours | 10.99 terawatt-hours | 12.81 terawatt-hours | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More climate change data for Costa Rica
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 108.28 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 3,751 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 942.79 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 2,808 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 3.56 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 100.29 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 688.78 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 623.33 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 65.45 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 2.35 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica?
- Electricity generation from low-carbon sources in Costa Rica was 12.81 terawatt-hours in 2025, according to Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest electricity generation from low-carbon sources recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 12.81 terawatt-hours in 2025.
- What is the lowest electricity generation from low-carbon sources recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.8 terawatt-hours in 2000.
- How does Costa Rica rank for electricity generation from low-carbon sources?
- Costa Rica ranks 68th out of 214 countries with data for 2025.
- Is electricity generation from low-carbon sources rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Electricity generation from low-carbon sources. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours. Low-carbon sources correspond to renewables and nuclear power, that produce significantly less greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuels. Renewables include solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal, wave, and tidal.