According to the Vital Statistics 2023 on population, births, deaths and marriages, published by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) last November, 50,205 births were registered in Costa Rica during that year. Of the total, 25,507 were men and 24,698 were women.
According to this report, the crude birth rate for 2023 is the lowest in the last 14 years, registering 9.8 per thousand inhabitants. As can be seen in the following table, it is the first time during this period that this indicator marks a single digit, with 2011 being the year with the highest crude birth rate with 16 births per thousand inhabitants.
Provinces and districts with the fewest births
According to INEC Vital Statistics, Heredia registered the lowest number of births in 2023 with 4,422 and it was in Parasito de Santo Domingo where the fewest were born, only 10 (4 men and 6 women).
It is followed by Guanacaste where 4,472 Costa Ricans were born in 2023 and it was El Líbano de Tilarán with the lowest number of births, only 3 men and no women.
Cartago is in third place. During 2023, 4,862 births were registered and Peralta de Turrialba registered the lowest number, only one boy was born. Next comes Puntarenas, where there were 5,571 new babies and where two places registered zero births: Cocos Island and La Unión de Montes de Oro.
According to this study, Limón ranks fifth in births with 5,702. The district of Mercedes de Guácimo is where fewer were born with 13 (7 men and 6 women). The penultimate birth record is in Alajuela with 11,175 and it was in Zapotal de San Ramón, where only one little girl was born during all of 2023.
And, finally, San José is the province where the most births were registered with 14,001. Here two districts tie with only 2 births in each. San Luis de Turrubares (one man and one woman) and Jardín de Dota where only 2 little ones were born during 2023.
