Costa Rica - Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI)

Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI) in Costa Rica was 0.119 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 29 years was 0.300 in 1990, while its lowest value was 0.105 in 2009.

Definition: Particulate emissions damage is the damage due to exposure of a country's population to ambient concentrations of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), ambient ozone pollution, and indoor concentrations of PM2.5 in households cooking with solid fuels. Damages are calculated as foregone labor income due to premature death. Estimates of health impacts from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Data for other years have been extrapolated from trends in mortality rates.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future" (Lange et al 2018).

See also:

Year Value
1990 0.300
1991 0.269
1992 0.232
1993 0.215
1994 0.210
1995 0.217
1996 0.194
1997 0.199
1998 0.184
1999 0.188
2000 0.162
2001 0.163
2002 0.157
2003 0.144
2004 0.140
2005 0.132
2006 0.127
2007 0.109
2008 0.108
2009 0.105
2010 0.118
2011 0.109
2012 0.118
2013 0.117
2014 0.116
2015 0.118
2016 0.111
2017 0.112
2018 0.112
2019 0.119

Development Relevance: Air pollution places a major burden on world health. In many places, including cities but also nearby rural areas, exposure to air pollution exposure is the main environmental threat to health. Long-term exposure to high levels of fine particulates in the air contributes to a range of health effects, including respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and heart disease, resulting in 3.2 million deaths annually according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Not only does exposure to air pollution affect the health of the world’s people, it also carries huge economic costs and represents a drag on development, particularly for low and middle income countries and vulnerable segments of the population such as children and the elderly.

Limitations and Exceptions: Labor productivity losses, as calculated within the framework of adjusted net savings, represent only part of the economic costs of air pollution and should be interpreted as a lower-end estimate.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Within the national accounting framework, air pollution damages are estimated following a human capital approach. Damages from premature mortality are calculated as the present value of lost income during working age, 15-64. Premature mortality among children is valued by adjusting for years until working age and discounting more heavily into the future. Estimates are for both urban and rural areas. Exposure to household air pollution is proxied by the number of households in each country cooking with solid fuels.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: National accounts