Is prostitution legal in Costa Rica?
Decriminalized / unregulated
Selling sex is not illegal, but facilitating or promoting it is prohibited.
Costa Rica is one of 38 countries classified “Decriminalized / unregulated” for sex work — 17% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in the Americas
- Last checked
- 17 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Nicaragua
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal in Nicaragua, though promoting and procuring are prohibited.
- Panama
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated in Panama, requiring registration and identification.
- Honduras
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, though related activities like pimping are illegal.
- El Salvador
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is not prohibited nationally, though local ordinances may restrict it.
- Guatemala
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, but procuring and keeping a brothel are not prohibited.
- Belize
- Buying illegal (Nordic model) Selling sex is legal, but buying sexual services is explicitly not allowed.
Other laws in Costa Rica
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Marriage legal
- Same-Sex Activity
- Legal
- Age of Consent
- 14–15
- Same-Sex Adoption
- Joint adoption legal
- Incest Laws
- Legal between adults
- Marriage Age
- 18+
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.