International Men's Day: history and figures for Costa Rica

Every 19 November, many countries mark International Men's Day. Here is where the date comes from, who promoted it and what the official figures say about men in Costa Rica.

Where Men's Day comes from

There was an earlier attempt, but the date marked today was born in the Caribbean. It was promoted by Jerome Teelucksingh, a lecturer in the History Department of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. According to the Trinidad Guardian, the day's theme is to highlight positive male role models.

1. 1
   1992, the first attempt. On 7 February, in Kansas (United States), Professor Thomas Oaster organises an International Men's Day.
2. 2
   1999, the relaunch. Jerome Teelucksingh marks it on 19 November in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
3. 3
   Why that day. It was his father's birthday, a man he sees as a role model, and the date in 1989 when, as he tells it, the whole country united behind its football team, which that day lost a World Cup qualifier to the United States.
4. 4
   2010, in prisons too. It is decided to mark the day with prisoners in different countries as well.
5. 5
   2016, some eighty countries. According to its promoter, it is now marked in about eighty countries; Uganda joins in September that year.
6. 6
   2022, 93 countries. Teelucksingh estimates that 93 countries mark it that year.

Timeline

Men in Costa Rica, in figures

Accidents weigh far more on men. In 2024, 24,810 men were reported injured in road accidents, against 9,856 women, and men's death rate in transport accidents was more than six times women's. According to INEC, men's death rate from external causes, those not due to an illness, reached 107.1 per 100,000 in 2024, the highest in the series that starts in 2010.

In two decades, men and women put off their first marriage by about eight years: men went from 30.8 in 2004 to 38.7 in 2024, and women from 27.4 to 35.2. In 2024 there were 22,136 marriages, the lowest figure since 2004 after that of 2020, the pandemic year.

November is also men's health month: the story of that campaign and the country's prostate cancer figures are in Blue November in Costa Rica.

Curious facts

• In 2021 Costa Rica had 129 more men than women; in 2022 women became the majority, for the first time in the INEC series that starts in 2004.
• Today the gap is tiny: in 2024 there were 5,974 more women than men, in a country of over five million people.
• The date joins the personal and the sporting: the founder's father's birthday and a 1989 football match.
• In 2024, 311 couples of two men married, with average ages of 38.8 and 39.6: the highest of any type of couple, according to INEC.

Frequently asked questions

Is Men's Day a public holiday in Costa Rica?

No. It is not among the public holidays of article 148 of the Labour Code, according to the Ministry of Labour's official 2026 calendar. That year, 19 November falls on a Thursday.

Is it an official UN day?

No. The United Nations' list of international days does not include it; for 19 November it lists World Toilet Day.

Why is it marked on 19 November?

Because Jerome Teelucksingh chose it in 1999: it is his father's birthday and the date in 1989 when Trinidad and Tobago united behind its football team.

Sources

• Centre for Male Psychology: interview with Jerome Teelucksingh, “Everyone around the world should celebrate men on International Men's Day” (17 November 2022).
• UWI Today (University of the West Indies): article by Jerome Teelucksingh, November 2016.
• Trinidad Guardian: “Observing International Men's Day” (20 November 2024).
• United Nations: list of international days and weeks.
• INEC: 2024 Demographic Overview (population by sex, marriages, deaths and mortality rates).
• Ministry of Health: 2024 Epidemiological Profile (life expectancy and road accident injuries).
• Ministry of Labour and Social Security: 2026 holiday calendar (4 December 2025).