Economy of Costa Rica

Economy of Costa Rica
San José
CurrencyCosta Rican colón (CRC, ₡)
calendar year
Trade organizations
WTO, OECD, CAFTA-DR
Country group
Statistics
PopulationIncrease 5,213,362 (2022 estimate)[3]
GDP
  • Increase $96 billion (nominal, 2024)[4]
  • Increase $152 billion (PPP, 2024)[4]
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Increase 4.3% (2022)[5]
  • Increase 5.2% (2023f)[5]
  • Increase 4.5% (2024f)[5]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $18,031 (nominal, 2024)[4]
  • Increase $28,558 (PPP, 2024)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
  • agriculture: 5.5%
  • industry: 18.6%
  • services: 75.9%
  • (2016 estimate)[6]
Increase -0.33% (May 2024)[7]
Population below poverty line
  • Positive decrease 25.5% (2022)[8]
  • Positive decrease 10.4% on less than $6.85/day (2022)[9]
Positive decrease 47.2 high (2022)[10]
Labor force
  • Increase 2,407,610 (2023)[12]
  • Increase 54.5% employment rate (2022)[13]
UnemploymentPositive decrease 10.5% (2019)[6]
Average gross salary
₡787,096 / $1,476 monthly[14] (2022)
Main industries
medical equipment, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products
External
ExportsIncrease $10.81 billion (2017 est.)[15]
Export goods
bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar; beef; seafood; electronic components, medical equipment
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $15.15 billion (2017 est.)[15]
Import goods
raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum, construction materials
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • Increase $33.92 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[15]
  • Increase Abroad: $4.007 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[15]
Decrease −$1.692 billion (2017 est.)[15]
Negative increase $26.83 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[15]
Public finances
Positive decrease 73.1% of GDP (2024 est.)[15]
−6.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[15]
Revenues8.357 billion (2017 est.)[15]
Expenses11.92 billion (2017 est.)[15]
BB− per Standard & Poor's (2017)[16]
Increase $12.84 billion (Nov, 2023 est.)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.
Real GPD per capita development in Costa Rica

The economy of Costa Rica has been very stable for some years now, with continuing growth in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and moderate inflation, though with a high unemployment rate: 11.49% in 2019.[17] Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then.[6][18] The estimated GDP for 2023 is US$90 billion, up significantly from the US$52.6 billion in 2015[18] while the estimated 2024 per capita (purchasing power parity) is US$28,558.[4]

Inflation remained around 4% to 5% per annum for several years up to 2015 but then dropped to 0.7% in 2016; it was expected to rise to a still moderate 2.8% by the end of 2017[19] In 2017, Costa Rica had the highest standards of living in Central America[20] in spite of the high poverty level. The poverty level dropped by 1.2% in 2017 to 20.5%, thanks to reducing inflation and benefits offered by the government.[21][20] The estimated unemployment level in 2017 was 8.1%, roughly the same as in 2016.[6]

The country has evolved from an economy that once depended solely on agriculture, to one that is more diverse, based on tourism, electronics and medical components exports, medical manufacturing and IT services.[20][22] Corporate services for foreign companies employ some 3% of the workforce.[23] Of the GDP, 5.5% is generated by agriculture, 18.6% by industry and 75.9% by services (2016).[6] Agriculture employs 12.9% of the labor force, industry 18.57%, services 69.02% (2016)[24] Many foreign companies operate in the various Free-trade zones.[25] In 2015, exports totalled US$12.6 billion while imports totalled US$15 billion for a trade deficit of US$2.39 billion.[26]

The growing debt and budget deficit are the country's primary concerns.[27] By August 2017, Costa Rica was having difficulty paying its obligations and the President promised dramatic changes to handle the "liquidity crisis".[28][29] Other challenges face Costa Rica in its attempts to increase the economy by foreign investment. They include a poor infrastructure and a need to improve public sector efficiency.[30][31]

  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Population, total - Costa Rica June 2022". inec.cr. INEC. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: April 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  5. ^ a b c "The outlook is uncertain again amid financial sector turmoil, high inflation, ongoing effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and three years of COVID". International Monetary Fund. April 11, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Global Finance Magazine – Costa Rica GDP and Economic Data". gfmag.com. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  7. ^ Costa Rica Central Bank. "Consumer price index (CPI)". Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  8. ^ "Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) - Costa Rica". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population) - Costa Rica". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Income inequality". data.oecd.org. OECD. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Labor force, total - Costa Rica". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%) (national estimate) - Costa Rica". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Page Rendering Error | OECD iLibrary".
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Costa Rica". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 30 November 2019. (Archived 2019 edition.)
  16. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2017-08-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ "Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) - Costa Rica". World Bank. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  18. ^ a b FocusEconomics (2 January 2014). "Costa Rica Economy – GDP, Inflation, CPI and Interest Rate". FocusEconomics – Economic Forecasts from the World's Leading Economists. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  19. ^ FocusEconomics. "Costa Rica Inflation Rate (CPI) – FocusEconomics". FocusEconomics – Economic Forecasts from the World's Leading Economists. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  20. ^ a b c "Costa Rica country profile". BBC News. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Costa Rica records lowest poverty figures in seven years". ticotimes.net. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  22. ^ "The Next Step". The Business Year. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Amazon invests in Costa Rica as tiny nation carves out profitable niche in world economy". seattletimes.com. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  24. ^ "Costa Rica – employment by economic sector – Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Major Business Success for Costa Rica Free Trade Zones – Costa Rica Star News". news.co.cr. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  26. ^ "OEC – Costa Rica (CRI) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners". atlas.media.mit.edu. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  27. ^ "IMF Mission Concludes Visit to Costa Rica". imf.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Costa Rica will have trouble paying bills, president says". efe.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Costa Rica Government Faces "Liquidity" Problems – Q COSTA RICA". 2 August 2017.
  30. ^ "Costa Rica "Playing With Fire" By Delaying Fiscal Reform Says Intl Expert – Costa Rica Star News". news.co.cr. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  31. ^ "Costa Rica Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption". heritage.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.