The five millionth Costa Rican would be born in national territory on September 1st at 9:27 pm, although it cannot be specified where. The calculation of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) is based on the recent behavior of fertility and mortality.
In 1864, the population in the country was 120,499 people. Fast forward 89 years and, in 1953, Costa Rica reached one million inhabitants.
Twenty-four years later, the country registered its two millionth citizen and 12 years later, in 1989, it reached three million people. From the end of the eighties, it took 11 years to have four million people in 2000. However, for Costa Rica to have another million inhabitants, 18 years had to pass.
The years between one million and the next are associated with different growth rates. Between 1864 and 1953 the country had an annual growth rate of 2.4%, and for the second and third million the rates were higher: 2.9% and 3.4% respectively. However, between 1989 and 2000, when the country reached four million inhabitants, there was a deceleration in growth with an annual rate of 2.6%; and this deceleration is more pronounced now that the country would reach its five millionth citizen, since the annual growth rate is 1.2%.