That dollar amount results from a 58.1% rise compared to $11.5 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the value of Costa Rica’s exported products gained 18.2% from $15.3 billion during 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Costa Rican colón appreciated by 7.4% against the US dollar since 2019 and strengthened by 15.9% from 2022 to 2023. Costa Rica’s stronger local currency makes its exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers.
Largest Customers for Costa Rican Exports
The latest available country-specific data shows that 84.9% of products exported from Costa Rica was bought by importers in: United States of America (46.1% of the Costa Rican total), Netherlands (8.4%), Guatemala (4.9%), Belgium (4.6%), Nicaragua (3.8%), Panama (3.5%), Honduras (3.3%), El Salvador (2.5%), mainland China (2.3%), Japan (2.1%), Dominican Republic (1.8%) and Spain (1.7%).
From a continental perspective, 48.3% of Costa Rica’s exports by value was delivered to North American countries while 24% was sold to importers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Costa Rica shipped another 20.3% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to buyers to Asia (7%), Africa (0.2%), then Oceania (0.2%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Given Costa Rica’s population of 5.3 million people, its total $18.1 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $3,400 for every resident in the Central American country. That per-capita amount exceeds the average $2,900 for one year earlier.
Costa Rica’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Costa Rican global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Costa Rica.
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: US$7.6 billion (42% of total exports)
- Fruits, nuts: $2.5 billion (14%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $1 billion (5.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $804.8 million (4.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $520 million (2.9%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $440.2 million (2.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $412.5 million (2.3%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $359.4 million (2%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $348.3 million (1.9%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $312.6 million (1.7%)
Costa Rica’s top 10 exports generated about four-fifths (79.2%) of the value of total Costa Rican shipments.
Optical, technical and medical apparatus was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 32.6% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was pharmaceuticals via a 26.1% advance.
Costa Rica’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 22.8%.
The leading decliner among Costa Rica’s top 10 export categories was coffee, tea and spices, thanks to a -5.9% year-over-year drop.
At the more detailed Harmonized Tariff System code level, in 2023 Costa Rica’s most valuable exported products were electro-medical equipment including xray machines (31.4% of the Costa Rican total), orthopedic appliances (8.9%), bananas and plantains (6.6%), dates, figs, pineapples, mangoes, avocadoes and guavas (6.5%), miscellaneous food preparations (4.6%), coffee (1.9%), insulated wire or cable (1.5%), new rubber tires (1.4%), palm oil (1.3%), then fruit or vegetable juices (1.2%).
Products Driving Largest Trade Surpluses for Costa Rica
The following types of Costa Rican product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: US$6.3 billion (Up by 34.4% since 2022)
- Fruits, nuts: $2.4 billion (Up by 12.8%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $727.3 million (Up by 14.9%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $301.6 million (Down by -9.3%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $236.7 million (Down by -8.5%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $223.6 million (Down by -14.1%)
- Vegetables: $156.1 million (Up by 30.9%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $130.1 million (Down by -4.3%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $77.5 million (Up by 42.7%)
- Miscellaneous manufactured articles: $51.3 million (Down by -37.7%)
Costa Rica has highly positive net exports in the international trade of medical, surgical, dental or veterinary instruments, orthopedic appliances and similar equipment. In turn, these cashflows indicate Costa Rica’s strong competitive advantages under the optical, technical and medical apparatus category.
Products Causing Worst Trade Deficits for Costa Rica
Costa Rica incurred an overall -US$4.4 billion trade deficit for 2023, reducing by -24.3% from the -$5.8 billion deficit one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Costa Rica that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Costa Rica’s goods trail Costa Rican importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.6 billion (Down by -4.2% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.83 billion (Up by 5.8%)
- Vehicles: -$1.66 billion (Up by 44.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.39 billion (Up by 18.6%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.2 billion (Up by 1.2%)
- Paper, paper items: -$629 million (Down by -15.5%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$624.7 million (Down by -10.9%)
- Cereals: -$578.6 million (Up by 17.3%)
- Iron, steel: -$512.9 million (Down by -17.9%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$415.8 million (Up by 30%)
Costa Rica has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits particularly for refined petroleum oils, petroleum gases, and petroleum coke or residues under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Costa Rican Export Companies
Not one Costa Rican corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list some exporters based in Costa Rica. Selected examples are shown below.
- Café Britt (coffee)
- Cerveceria Costa Rica (brewery)
- Dos Pinos (dairy products)
- Florida Ice and Farm Company (brewery, food processor)
- Nature Air (airliner)
- Ujarrás (food)
In macroeconomic terms, Costa Rica’s total exported goods represent 12.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($141.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 12.8% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 11.7% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Costa Rica’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Costa Rica’s unemployment rate averaged 9.8% for 2023, down from an average 11.669% in 2022 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Domestically, Costa Rica’s average consumer price inflation slowed to 0.661% for 2023 down from 8.275% in 2022.
Costa Rica’s capital city is San José.
See also Bananas Exports by Country, Coffee Exports by Country, Top US Trading Partners, Netherlands Top Trading Partners and Belgium’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook report on Central America: Costa Rica. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Forbes 2023 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on April 2, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on April 2, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 2, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Wikipedia, Costa Rica. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on July 2, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Costa Rica. Accessed on April 2, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 2, 2024