OECD Economic Surveys: Costa Rica 2018

Abstract

This Survey was prepared in the Economics Department by Sónia Araújo and Lisa Meehan under the supervision of Patrick Lenain. Damien Azzopardi, Pedro Herrera Gimenez, Alex Linares and Adrien Moutel provided statistical assistance and editorial assistance was provided by Stephanie Henry. The Survey also benefited from contributions by Eva Beuselinck, Bert Brys, Daniel Blume, Sara Calligaris, Thomas Dannequin, Manuela Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Guichard, Gernot Hutschenreiter, Andrea Marin Odio, Iota Nassr, Dirk Pilat and Anna Pons.

The Survey was discussed at a meeting of the Economic and Development Review Committee on 1 March 2018 and is published under the responsibility of the Secretary General of the OECD.

Basic statistics of Costa Rica

(Data refer to 2016 or latest available. Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)1

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE
Population (million)	4.86		Population density per km2	95.1	(37.5)
Under 15 (%)	21.9	(18.0)	Life expectancy (years)	79.6	(80.7)
Over 65 (%)	9.2	(16.5)	Men	77.2	(78.1)
Foreign-born (%)	8.4		Women	82.1	(83.3)
Latest 5-year average growth (%)	1.1	(0.7)	Latest general election	February 2018
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (GDP)			Value added shares (%)
In current prices (billion USD)	57.1		Primary sector	5.4	(2.4)
In current prices (billion CRC)	31 044.1		Industry including construction	21.2	(26.7)
Latest 5-year average real growth (%)	3.7	(1.9)	Services	73.4	(70.9)
Per capita (000 USD PPP)	16.4	(42.1)
GENERAL GOVERNMENT Per cent of GDP
Expenditure	29.0	(41.2)	Gross financial debt	45.7	(108.1)
Revenue	24.7	(38.3)	Net financial debt	NA	(69.8)
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS
Exchange rate CRC per USD	544.0		Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)
PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)	387.7		Food, animals + beverages, tobacco	42.9
In per cent of GDP			Miscellaneous manufactured articles	28.7
Exports of goods and services	32.8	(28.1)	Goods classified chiefly by material	9.5
Imports of goods and services	31.9	(27.7)	Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)
Current account balance	-2.61	(0.20)	Machinery and transport equipment	30.0
Net international investment position	-49.6		Chemicals	17.7
			Goods classified chiefly by material	16.8
LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION
Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	58.7	(67.0)	Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)	9.7	(6.5)
Men	72.8	(74.8)	Youth (age 15-24, %)	23.1	(12.9)
Women	44.3	(59.4)	Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)	1.6	(2.0)
Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	65.0	(71.7)	Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%)	23.0	(35.7)
Average hours worked per year	2 212	(1 763)	Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP)	0.6	(2.4)
ENVIRONMENT
Total primary energy supply per capita (toe)	1.0	(4.1)	CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)	1.4	(9.2)
Renewables (%)	52.7	(9.6)	Water abstractions per capita (m3 )	348	(812)
Fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5, μg/m3)	20.1	(15.2)	Municipal waste per capita (kilogrammes)	390	(520)
SOCIETY
Income inequality (Gini coefficient)	0.48	(0.32)	Education outcomes (PISA score, 2015)
Relative poverty rate (%)	20.9	(11.6)	Reading	427	(493)
Median disposable household income (000 USD PPP)	9.3	(23.0)	Mathematics	420	(490)
Public and private spending (% of GDP)			Science	400	(493)
Health care, current expenditure	9.1	(9.1)	Share of women in parliament (%)	33.3	(28.7)
Pensions	5.8	(9.1)	Net official development assistance (% of GNI)	0.20	(0.39)
Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary)	5.6	(3.7)

Better life index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

1. 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.

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, UN Comtrade, INEC, Costa Rican Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Costa Rica.