Costa Rica — humanitarian situation

Costa Rica has experienced limited acute humanitarian pressures during the reporting period, though the country continues to serve as a transit and destination point within broader regional migration dynamics. Between October and November 2025, Tropical Wave No. 40 developed into a tropical cyclone affecting the Caribbean coast, prompting a DREF operation by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies IFRC. The cyclone produced flooding conditions, though the final report issued in July 2026 indicates the emergency phase has concluded. In early June 2026, the National Meteorological Institute issued surveillance alerts regarding favorable conditions for low-pressure system development in the Pacific maritime sector near Central American coasts, with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone remaining active and close to Costa Rican territory (Cruz Roja Costarricense, IFRC). The country faces ongoing public health surveillance requirements within the regional context. The Pan American Health Organization PAHO reported that dengue cases across the Americas reached 1,169,325 suspected cases by epidemiological week 21 of 2026, representing a 64 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2025. By week 28, regional suspected dengue cases totaled 1,432,399 with a cumulative incidence of 138 cases per 100,000 population PAHO. In August 2026, PAHO issued an epidemiological alert urging Member States to strengthen measles surveillance and vaccination activities following increased reported cases across the Americas Region. Agricultural production concerns have emerged, with the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO noting that plantings of the 2026 main season crop fell below average due to low prices and high production costs, while paddy production in 2025 was estimated below average. Cereal import requirements for 2025/26 were estimated approximately 25 percent above average. Costa Rica functions within complex regional migration patterns involving Venezuelan refugees and migrants, Cuban nationals, and populations from northern Central America. The Mixed Movements Monitoring initiative by UNHCR, WFP, and UNICEF documented dynamics between October and December 2025, while the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan RMRP for 2025 operated under severely constrained conditions, securing only approximately 10 percent of required funding (R4V). Migration policy shifts in the United States and Chile during the second quarter of 2026 have influenced regional movement patterns MMC.