Is prostitution legal in Costa Rica?
Decriminalized / unregulated
Prostitution is not illegal but related activities like pimping and brothels are prohibited.
Costa Rica is one of 28 countries classified “Decriminalized / unregulated” for sex work — 13% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in the Americas
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Nicaragua
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is legal but promoting and procuring are prohibited, with a minimum age of 14.
- Panama
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated in Panama, with sex workers required to register and carry identification cards.
- Honduras
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal in Honduras with no specific prohibition, though related activities are illegal.
- El Salvador
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is legal but pimping and related activities are illegal, with local ordinances varying.
- Guatemala
- Decriminalized / unregulated Prostitution is legal but procuring is prohibited, with brothel ownership allowed.
- Belize
- Buying illegal (Nordic model) Prostitution is legal but buying sex is illegal, with associated activities also prohibited.
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.