Short facts about the economy in Costa Rica
| Economy -
overview: |
Costa Rica's basically stable economy
depends on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. Poverty has been
substantially reduced over the past 15 years, and a strong social safety net has
been put into place. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's
political stability and high education levels, and tourism continues to bring in
foreign exchange. However, traditional export sectors have not kept pace. Low
coffee prices and an overabundance of bananas have hurt the agricultural sector.
The government continues to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal
debt and with the need to modernize the state-owned electricity and
telecommunications sector. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $25 billion
(2000 est.) |
| GDP - real
growth rate: |
3% (2000
est.) |
| GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2000
est.) |
| GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture: 12.5%
industry: 30.7%
services: 56.8%
(1999) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
20.6% (1999
est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 34.7%
(1996) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
11% (2000
est.) |
| Labor
force: |
1.9 million
(1999) |
| Labor force
- by occupation: |
agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services
58% (1999 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
5.2% (2000
est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $1.95 billion
expenditures: $2.4 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
| Industries: |
microprocessors, food processing,
textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic
products |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4.3%
(2000) |
| Electricity
- production: |
5.805 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 2.41%
hydro: 83.32%
nuclear:
0%
other: 14.27% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
5.303 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
165 million kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
69 million kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar,
corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber |
| Exports: |
$6.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Exports -
commodities: |
coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples;
textiles, electronic components, medical
equipment |
| Exports -
partners: |
US 54.1%, EU 21.3%, Central America
8.6% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$5.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Imports -
commodities: |
raw materials, consumer goods, capital
equipment, petroleum |
| Imports -
partners: |
US 56.4%, EU 9%, Mexico 5.4%, Japan
4.7%, (1999) |
| Debt -
external: |
$4.2 billion (2000
est.) |
| Currency: |
Costa Rican colon
(CRC) |
| Exchange
rates: |
Costa Rican colones per US dollar -
318.95 (2001), 308.19 (2000), 285.68 (1999), 257.23 (1998), 232.60 (1997),
207.69 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year | Source: World Factbook |
