Economy & Business - August 2024

COSTA RICA | Exports up. On 24 July Costa Rica’s official export promotion agency (Procomer) released new figures showing Costa Rica’s goods exports totalled US$9.69bn in the first half of 2024, up 7% on the same period in 2023. It highlights medical devices as the leading export sector, accounting for 43% of total exports and posting 13% growth year-on-year. This was followed by agricultural, which accounted for 19% of exports and posted 3% growth. Figures released at the start of 2024 show Costa Rica’s goods exports totalled US$18.24bn in 2023, up 15.5% on 2022, a growth rate which Procomer described as the “second most significant” of the past five years. At the time a Procomer statement cites its general manager, Laura López, as saying the export sector represents 40.5% of the country’s GDP, with over 2,500 products exported to over 150 destinations, and provides jobs to over 690,000 people.