🇨🇷 Republic of Costa Rica
Visiting: High Risk
Costa Rica is safe to visit, with a few things to know first. Violent crime is the defining risk: homicide ranks 164th, one of the highest rates in the world. Even so, two measures stand out: there is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and freedom is as good as it gets, at 16th. LGBT rights are solid, ranking 29th, and women's safety is good, at 55th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Costa Rica: 16.9
Ranked 17th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Seventeen killings per 100,000 people a year is well past the WHO's epidemic line of ten, where the deadliest countries start.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. The rate runs nearly three times the world average — 878 killings in the 2024 count.
Why we updated the score?
The judicial investigation agency has published its 2025 rate. The UN takes its figure from the agency a year later, so we used the new rate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Costa Rica: 15.5
Ranked 69th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Fifteen and a half deaths per 100,000 people a year is just above the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe on a motorbike — four in ten of the deaths — and a quarter are people on foot. In a car the risk is moderate.
Conflict — world number one
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Costa Rica: 1.00
Ranked 1st least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing on record. The Uppsala conflict database has never recorded a conflict death in Costa Rica since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. No army, no war, and nothing in five years where the state was fighting. The gang wars in Limón are a crime story, counted under Homicide.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Costa Rica: 8.99
Ranked 16th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Costa Rica the lowest is due process at 3. Total 23 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Democratic stability, credible elections and robust freedom of expression. Due process is one step from the top. Rising drug-related violence is a Homicide matter, not a freedom one.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Costa Rica: 6.9
Ranked 29th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2020, the first in Central America, by constitutional-chamber order. The law index scores 85, public opinion 54.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. A tolerant outlier in its region, with the change accepted calmly.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Costa Rica: 7.93
Ranked 55th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate high and violence at home is low. Fewer than half of women feel safe out alone at night, short of the more than half that green needs.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone will find Costa Rica reasonable.