Distillers Costa Rica
A one-page guide to Costa Rica for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- San Jose
- Official languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- Costa Rican colon (CRC)
- Time zone
- UTC-6
- Area
- 51,100 km²
People
- Population
- 5.2 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 79.7%
- Aged under 15
- 18.3%
- Aged 65 and over
- 12.8%
- Life expectancy
- 81.0 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$102.9 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$19,970 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 4.56033547844829% (2025)
- Inflation
- -0.073671440596217% (2025)
Climate
Tropical all year with a dry season December to April and a rainy season May to November; March and April are hottest, December and January coolest.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 (purchase age; selling to minors fined)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 3.9 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
- What people drink
- Beer 83%, wine 6%, spirits 11% (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: Costa Rica (basics, climate, ports); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; World Bank Open Data (population, GDP, growth, inflation, area); WHO Global Health Observatory: total alcohol per capita; UN Comtrade (HS 2208 trade); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Costa Rica - other taxes; Goods Across Borders: Costa Rica allowances (secondary; cites national customs); Cámara de Industrias de Costa Rica (national industry chamber). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.