Costa Rica2020 Economic Complexity : 0.18, Rank 50 of 127
2020 Product Exports | Imports: $14B | $13.8B, 76 of 226 | 84 of 226
2020 Per Capita Product Exports | Imports: $2.75k | $2.72k, 77 of 219 | 97 of 219
2019 Service Exports | Imports : $9.38B | $4.18B, 55 of 108 | 66 of 108
Overview In 2020, Costa Rica was the number 76 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 76 in total exports, the number 84 in total imports, the number 73 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 50 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
Exports The top exports of Costa Rica are Medical Instruments ($3.27B), Bananas ($1.28B), Tropical Fruits ($1.03B), Integrated Circuits ($1.02B), and Orthopedic Appliances ($850M), exporting mostly to United States ($5.19B), Netherlands ($1.33B), Guatemala ($633M), Mexico ($620M), and Belgium ($575M).
Imports The top imports of Costa Rica are Refined Petroleum ($915M), Broadcasting Equipment ($551M), Medical Instruments ($424M), Packaged Medicaments ($340M), and Cars ($323M), importing mostly from United States ($5.46B), China ($1.97B), Mexico ($909M), Guatemala ($445M), and Japan ($272M).
Location Costa Rica borders Nicaragua and Panama by land and Colombia and Ecuador by sea.
The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of Costa Rica.
Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.
*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.
The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.
*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.
Top Export (2020): Medical Instruments, $3.27B
Top Destination (2020): United States, $5.46B
In 2020, Costa Rica exported a total of $14B, making it the number 76 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Costa Rica have changed by $2.92B from $11.1B in 2015 to $14B in 2020.
The most recent exports are led by Medical Instruments ($3.27B), Bananas ($1.28B), Tropical Fruits ($1.03B), Integrated Circuits ($1.02B), and Orthopedic Appliances ($850M). The most common destination for the exports of Costa Rica are United States ($5.19B), Netherlands ($1.33B), Guatemala ($633M), Mexico ($620M), and Belgium ($575M).
Fastest Growing Export Markets (2019 - 2020)
Costa Rica Exports Services (2019): $9.38B
Costa Rica Imports Services (2019): $4.18B
In 2019, Costa Rica exported $9.38B worth of services. The top services exported by Costa Rica in 2019 were Personal travel ($3.66B), Other business services ($3.41B), Computer and information services ($1.33B), Transportation ($496M), and Business travel ($353M).
The top services imported by Costa Rica in 2019 were Transportation ($1.2B), Personal travel ($677M), Royalties and license fees ($593M), Other business services ($451M), and Business travel ($411M).
Costa Rica has a high level of specialization in Bananas (110), Tropical Fruits (82.3), Cassava (46.6), Medical Instruments (29.6), and Plant foliage (26.9). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Costa Rica observed and expected exports in each product.
The highest complexity exports of Costa Rica according to the product complexity index (PCI) are Integrated Circuits (1.41), Stainless Steel Wire (1.31), Nickel Bars (1.18), Glues (1.18), and Orthopedic Appliances (1.09). PCI measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.
The top export opportunities for Costa Rica according to the relatedness index, are Cocoa Beans (0.21), Wheat Flours (0.21), Gold (0.2), Other Oily Seeds (0.2), and Legumes (0.2). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Costa Rica is not specialized in.
The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.
The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.
During the last 20 years Costa Rica's economy has become relatively more complex, moving from the 55th to the 50th position in the ECI rank.
These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.
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