Economy of Costa Rica

Economy of Costa Rica
	San José
Currency	Costa Rican colón (CRC, ₡)
Fiscal year	calendar year
Trade organizations	WTO, OECD, CAFTA-DR
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Upper-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	5,213,362 (2022 estimate)
GDP	$102.59 Billion (nominal; 2025); $169.03 Billion (PPP; 2025);
GDP rank	72th (nominal; 2025); 87th (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	4.6% (2022); 5.1% (2023); 4.3% (2024f); 3.4% (2025f);
GDP per capita	$19,100 (nominal; 2025); $31,461 (PPP; 2025);
GDP per capita rank	58th (nominal, 2024); 64th (PPP, 2024);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 5.5%; industry: 18.6%; services: 75.9%; (2016 estimate);
Inflation (CPI)	-0.33% (May 2024)
Population below poverty line	25.5% (2022); 10.4% on less than $6.85/day (2022);
Gini coefficient	47.2 high (2022)
Human Development Index	0.806 very high (2022) (64th); 0.656 medium IHDI (67th) (2022);
Labor force	2,407,610 (2023); 54.5% employment rate (2022);
Unemployment	10.5% (2019)
Average gross salary	₡759,095 / $1,498 monthly (2024)
Average net salary	₡678,100 / $1,339 monthly (2024)
Main industries	medical equipment, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products
External
Exports	$33.68 billion (2023 est.)
Export goods	bananas, pineapples, coffee, melons, ornamental plants, sugar; beef; seafood; electronic components, medical equipment
Main export partners	United States 40.9%; Belgium 6.3%; Panama 5.6%; Netherlands 5.6%; Nicaragua 5.1%; Guatemala 5%; (2017);
Imports	$28.41 billion (2023 est.)
Import goods	raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum, construction materials
Main import partners	United States 38.1%; China 13.1%; Mexico 7.3%; (2017);
FDI stock	$33.92 billion (31 December 2017 est.); Abroad: $4.007 billion (31 December 2017 est.);
Current account	−$1.692 billion (2017 est.)
Gross external debt	$26.83 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	73.1% of GDP (2024 est.)
Foreign reserves	$12.84 billion (Nov, 2023 est.)
Budget balance	−6.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	8.357 billion (2017 est.)
Expenses	11.92 billion (2017 est.)
Credit rating	BB− per Standard & Poor's (2017)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

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. Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. The estimated GDP for 2023 is US$90 billion, up significantly from the US$52.6 billion in 2015 while the estimated 2024 per capita (purchasing power parity) is US$28,558.

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 In 2017, Costa Rica had the highest standards of living in Central America 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. The estimated unemployment level in 2017 was 8.1%, roughly the same as in 2016.

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. Corporate services for foreign companies employ some 3% of the workforce. Of the GDP, 5.5% is generated by agriculture, 18.6% by industry and 75.9% by services (2016). Agriculture employs 12.9% of the labor force, industry 18.57%, services 69.02% (2016) Many foreign companies operate in the various Free-trade zones. In 2015, exports totalled US$12.6 billion while imports totalled US$15 billion for a trade deficit of US$2.39 billion.

The growing debt and budget deficit are the country's primary concerns. By August 2017, Costa Rica was having difficulty paying its obligations and the President promised dramatic changes to handle the "liquidity crisis". 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.