This Economic Assessment is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

The Economic situation and policies of Costa Rica were reviewed by the Committee on 10 December 2015. The draft was then revised in the light of the discussions.

The Secretariat's draft report was prepared for the Committee by Mauro Pisu, Alberto Gonzalez Pandiella, Adolfo Rodriguez-Vargas under the supervision of Patrick Lenain. Mabel Gabriel provided the statistical research assistance, and Brigitte Beyeler provided the administrative support. The Economic Assessment also benefitted from contributions by Bert Brys, Daniel Blume, Antonio Capobianco, Mabel Gabriel, Isabell Koske, Chandima Mendis, Ryan Parmenter, Dirk Pilat, Horacio Levy, Shruti Singh and Federico Villalobos.

This is the first Economic Assessment of Costa Rica.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more information about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

  
BASIC STATISTICS OF COSTA RICA, 2014
(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)*

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE

Population (million)

4.8

Population density per km²

93.1

(34.9)

Under 15 (%)

22.7

(18.1)

Life expectancy (years, 2013)a

80.0

(80.5)

Over 65 (%)

8.6

(16.0)

Men

77.8

(77.8)

Foreign-born (%, 2011)

8.4

 

Women

82.2

(83.1)

Latest 5-year average growth (%)

1.2

(0.6)

Latest general election

February

2014

ECONOMY

Gross domestic product (GDP)

 

 

Value added shares (%)a

 

 

In current prices (billion USD)

49.7

 

Primary sector

11.4

(2.6)

In current prices (billion CRC)

26 678

 

Industry including construction

29.8

(26.5)

Latest 5-year average real growth (%)

4.3

(1.9)

Services

58.8

(71.0)

Per capita (000 USD PPP)

14.9

(39.0)

 

 

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

Per cent of GDP

Expenditurea

30.7

(42.0)

Gross financial debta

39.7

(112.6)

Revenuea

26.1

(37.8)

Net financial debta

(69.5)

EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS

Exchange rate (CRC per USD)

537

 

Main exports (% of total merchandise exports, 2013)

 

 

PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)

376

 

Food and live animals

31.9

In per cent of GDP

 

 

Machinery and transport equipment

29.3

 

Exports of goods and services

35.0

(53.7)

Miscellaneous manufactured articles

17.4

Imports of goods and services

37.2

(49.6)

Main imports (% of total merchandise imports, 2013)

 

 

Current account balance

-4.3

(0.0)

Machinery and transport equipment

36.0

Net international investment position

-43.7

 

Manufactured goods

15.0

 

 

Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.

14.0

LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION

Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

61.7

(65.7)

Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)

9.6

(7.3)

Men

75.2

(73.6)

Youth (age 15-24, %)

25.1

(15.0)

Women

48.0

(57.9)

Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %, 2013)

1.0

(2.5)

Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

68.4

(71.2)

Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%)a

18.4

(33.3)

Average hours worked per year

2 216

(1 770)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP, 2011)a

0.5

(2.4)

ENVIRONMENT

Total primary energy supply per capita (toe, 2013)

1.0

(4.1)

CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes, 2013)

1.5

(9.6)

Renewables (%, 2013)

51.0

(9.1)

Municipal waste per capita (tonnes, 2012)

0.4

(0.5)

Fine particulate matter concentration (urban, PM10, μg/m3, 2011)c

48.4

(28.0)

 

 

SOCIETY

Income inequality (Gini coefficient, 2015)b, e

0.487

(0.308)

Ratio of incomes of the top 10% vs. Bottom 10% (2015)b, e

32.3

(9.6)

Relative poverty rate (%)b, e

22.1

(10.9)

Education outcomes (PISA score, 2012)b

Median disposable household income (000 USD PPP)b

 

(21.9)

Reading

441

(496)

Public and private spending (% of GDP)

 

Mathematics

407

(494)

Health care (2013)a

9.9

(9.0)

Science

429

(501)

Pensionsc

5.7

(8.7)

Share of women in parliament (%, September 2015)

33.3

(27.7)

Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary, 2013)c, d

4.6

(3.9)

 

 

Better life index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

* Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 29 member countries.

← a. 2013 for the OECD aggregate.

← b. 2012 for the OECD aggregate.

← c. 2011 for the OECD aggregate.

d. Refers to government expenditure.

← e. Preliminary data for Costa Rica.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Inter-Parliamentary Union, United Nations, Costa Rican Ministry of Finance, Tourism Institute, Central Bank of Costa Rica and National Institute for Statistics and Censuses (INEC).