UK FCDO
Level 1Latest FCDO travel advice for Costa Rica. Includes safety and security, insurance, entry requirements and legal differences.
Updated: May 19, 2026
Source
Last update: July 12, 2026
Updated dailyCosta Rica
8 7.6 out of 10
Safety Score
Generally safe
+0.1 vs 7 days ago
Last updated: July 12, 2026 92% data coverage
Costa Rica has a safety score of 7.6/10 as of July 12, 2026, rated as Low risk and ranking 59th out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is environment (6.5/10), while the strongest area is conflict (7.9/10). This score is calculated daily from 40+ independent public sources.
What are the safety risk areas?
Environment 6.5/10
Crime 6.7/10
Health 7.3/10
Governance 7.7/10
Conflict 7.9/10
Indicator-level detail
Environment 6.5/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 60%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb air pollution | 8.2/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| inform natural | 4.6/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform climate | 7.6/10 | inform | 2026 |
Crime 6.7/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi safety security | 7.2/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| wb homicide | 7.0/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
Health 7.3/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb child mortality | 9.5/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| inform health | 9.6/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform epidemic | 4.6/10 | inform | 2026 |
Governance 7.7/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| vdem rule of law | 9.4/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem gov effectiveness | 8.8/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem corruption control | 7.9/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| inform governance | 7.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Conflict 7.9/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi overall | 7.1/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| gpi militarisation | 8.2/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| ucdp conflict deaths | 10.0/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
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What do governments say?
Sources (14)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to Costa Rica in 2026?
Yes, generally — Costa Rica is considered a safe destination: as of July 2026 it scores 7.6/10 on our daily safety index, classified as Low risk. The score is an uncertainty-weighted (Bayesian shrinkage) geometric mean of five pillars — conflict (30%), crime (25%), health (20%), governance (15%) and environment (10%) — combined with a calibrated consensus of government travel advisories, so a weak pillar drags the overall score down more than a strong one lifts it, and thin or stale data pulls a country's score toward a cautious regional baseline rather than guessing.
conflict (7.9/10) is Costa Rica's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by crime (6.7/10) and above all by environment (6.5/10). This pillar tracks exposure to natural hazards such as storms, floods and earthquakes, and how well the country is prepared to respond to them.
It is recalculated every day from public sources including government travel advisories, the Global Peace Index, the INFORM Risk Index and World Bank indicators.
What is the biggest risk when traveling to Costa Rica?
No single factor stands out as critical for Costa Rica: its relatively weakest area is environment at 6.5/10, close to the global mid-range. This pillar tracks exposure to natural hazards such as storms, floods and earthquakes, and how well the country is prepared to respond to them.
The lowest-scoring signals here are exposure to natural hazards (INFORM) and climate-related hazard exposure (INFORM). Its strongest pillar is conflict at 7.9/10.
What do government travel advisories say about Costa Rica?
As of July 2026, Costa Rica has 14 government travel advisories on record. The overall picture is reassuring: most governments advise only normal precautions for Costa Rica, and none currently raises it above a low-level advisory.
How does Costa Rica compare to nearby countries?
| Country | Score | Conflict | Crime | Health | Governance | Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 6.2 |
| Barbados | 7.9 | 8.7 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Uruguay | 7.7 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.1 |
| Suriname | 7.7 | 8.6 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 6.1 |
| Costa Rica | 7.6 | 7.9 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 6.5 |
Costa Rica and its neighbouring countries
Related Countries
Similar safety scores
How has the safety score changed over time?
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Where does the data come from?
- advisoriesFresh
Travel advisories from 37 governments worldwide including US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Slovakia, France, New Zealand, Ireland, Finland, Hong Kong, Brazil, Austria, Philippines, Belgium, Denmark, Singapore, Romania, Serbia, Estonia, Croatia, Argentina, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Portugal
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- gpiFresh
Global Peace Index -- annual peacefulness ranking by IEP
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- informFresh
INFORM Risk Index -- hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- ucdpFresh
UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset (Uppsala Conflict Data Program) -- state-based and one-sided conflict deaths, via the Our World in Data mirror (CC-BY)
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- vdemFresh
V-Dem Institute Country-Year Dataset v16 (CC-BY-SA 4.0) -- Rule of Law, Political Corruption, and Public Administration indices (Coppedge et al., DOI 10.23696/vdemds26)
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- worldbankFresh
World Bank Development Indicators -- child mortality and PM2.5 air pollution
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026