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Market Overview

• Costa Rica’s stable government and democratic traditions have made it historically the leader in the region for international business and tourism. Costa Rica offers ports on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts and two international airports, one in the Central Valley serving the greater metropolitan area of San Jose and one in Liberia in the northwest province of Guanacaste. In a significant step forward for the development of the country and its port infrastructure, Dutch-based APM Terminals broke ground in early 2015 on its US$1 billion container port on the Caribbean coast. In recent years, Costa Rica’s network of free trade zones have expanded outside of the Central Valley and the number of international companies investing in the country has reached historic numbers.
• Costa Rica’s GDP per capita in 2015 was nearly $11,000 which compares to that of Mexico and Panama in terms of economic development. Costa Rica has a strong middle class with purchasing power.
• The U.S. remains Costa Rica’s largest trading partner and Costa Rica’s largest foreign direct investor. In 2015, the U.S. had a US$1.7 billion trade surplus with Costa Rica primarily due to Intel’s relocation of their chip manufacturing plant in 2014. Intel now operates one of two Global Innovation Center in Costa Rica. 40% of the imports in to Costa Rica come from the U.S. Foreign direct investment in Costa Rica continues to increase and reached US$2.85 billion in 2015. Nearly 53% of that investment came from the U.S.
• The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) with the U.S. was ratified in Costa Rica in 2009. Costa Rica was the last country to ratify the agreement that this year celebrates 10 years from the entry into force for the United States and other countries in the region in 2006. This free trade agreement eliminated most of the tariffs for non-agricultural imports immediately and has made both trade and investment in the region more attractive to U.S. companies.
• The Costa Rican labor force is relatively well-educated compared to other countries in Central America. The country claims a literacy rate of 97 percent and English is widely spoken primarily due to Costa Rica’s tourism industry. In recent years due to rising government debt, the major credit rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – have downgraded Costa Rica’s risk ratings. The country is currently debating major fiscal reform legislation to cut the budget deficits and stop the growth in debt.
• Costa Rica announced its intention to become an OECD member in 2013 and since then has been actively working with the OECD toward accession. Costa Rica is currently in the accession process with the OECD. On 9 April 2015, OECD member countries agreed to open membership discussions with Costa Rica.
• There are no controls on capital flows in or out of Costa Rica or on portfolio investment in publicly traded companies but companies are subject to local taxes. Foreigners can own property with no title restrictions.

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