Costa Rica Economy - 2004

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. Low prices for coffee and bananas have hurt the agricultural sector. The government continues to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal debt. The reduction of inflation remains a difficult problem because of rises in the price of imports, labor market rigidities, and fiscal deficits. Costa Rica recently concluded negotiations to participate in the US - Central American Free Trade Agreement, which, if ratified by the Costa Rican Legislature, would result in economic reforms and an improved investment climate.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $35.16 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.2% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $9,000 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 30%
services: 61% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line:
20.6% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 36.8% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
45.9 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.4% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
1.8 million (July 2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
6.7% (July 2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.17 billion
expenditures: $2.84 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)

Industries:
microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products

Industrial production growth rate:
8.6% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.839 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 1.5%
hydro: 81.9%
other: 16.6% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
6.109 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
379 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
128 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
37,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber

Exports:
$6.176 billion (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment

Exports - partners:
US 29.1%, Netherlands 8.2%, UK 4.2%, Mexico 4% (2002)

Imports:
$7.057 billion (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum

Imports - partners:
US 35.4%, Japan 4.3%, Mexico 3.9% (2002)

Debt - external:
$3.654 billion (September 2003 est.)

Currency:
Costa Rican colon (CRC)

Currency code:
CRC

Exchange rates:
Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 398.66 (2003), 359.82 (2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000), 285.69 (1999)