Costa Rica: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

Industry:

Costa Rica has many different industrial sectors which are predominantly small-scale. The largest industrial sectors are chemical fertilizers, textiles, coffee and cocoa processing, chemicals, plastics, electronics, and computer chip manufacturing. The main industry of the country is tourism. The Caribbean coast with its many sandy beaches, and the beautiful tropical forests - the sanctuary of an abundance of flora and fauna, attract millions of tourists from Europe, United States and other Latin American countries to Costa Rica every year.

Ecotourism is extremely popular. Costa Rica was a pioneer in this type of tourism and the country is recognized as one of the only countries with genuine ecotourism.

Agriculture:

Agriculture in Costa Rica is probably the foremost factor in the progress and growth of this tiny Central American country. About 10% of the total land area is used for crop production. Corn and sugar crops are usually sufficient to meet domestic needs, but beans and rice must be imported from different countries on occasion. Coffee is the country's oldest agricultural product and has been exported since the 1790s. Over 30% of all the coffee in the world comes from Costa Rica.

The Costa Rican banana industry has been producing more than one million tons of bananas annually since the 1970s. The principal marketer of Costa Rica's bananas is Standard Fruit Co. Costa Rica is also an important producer of sugar. Yearly export volumes average 130,000 metric tons per year. However, unlike coffee or bananas, sugar production is largely for local consumption, which exceeds 2.6 million metric tons. Over 48,000 hectares of land are dedicated to the production of sugar.

Organic agriculture and farming in Costa Rica has grown in popularity and more farmers are turning to this sustainable development currently. Now, local markets offer organic products such as tomatoes, lettuce, celery, cucumbers, string beans, beets, chayote, broccoli, bananas, plantains and more. Hand in hand with the growth of organic products has been the rise of Fair Trade agricultural products, where buyers can purchase directly from the producers or with a minimal number of intermediaries. Finally, Costa Rica’s fishing industry, concentrated mostly on the Pacific coast and focusing primarily on tuna and shrimp, supplies both domestic and export market. Tilapia fish farming grew significantly in the 1990s and has made Costa Rica the principal supplier of tilapia to the United States.

Research & Development:

Costa Rica is actively engaged in computer software research and development activities. Software development continues to gain in importance in that there are over 130 software companies producing a variety of software applications in Costa Rica. These companies employ more than 1,000 professionals who develop software for a wide variety of areas including: banking, finance, human resources, health, education, artificial intelligence, data migration, communication, tourism, internet applications, and others.

The wide variety and high quality of the software produced in the country has allowed Costa Rica to become a recognized software producer internationally.

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