Costa Rica Economy

Costa Rica has a strong agricultural history, and its economy has traditionally been based on the exportation of bananas and coffee. Today, though agriculture continues to be important to the economy, with the addition of pineapples to the export market, the economy has been greatly diversified. After economic trouble in the 1980s, the economy has begun to turn around, and Costa Rican wealth is fairly well distributed among the different social classes.

Costa Rica has always gone about using its natural resources in a fairly prudent manner. Though wood and minerals are hardly left untouched, other industries are approached with more caution. In order to protect Costa Rica’s environment and its ecotourism industry, the government has banned all open-pit mining. The nation is also looking to expand its economic horizons. In 1998, US chip-manufacturer Intel opened two large chip-processing plants in Heredia, and recently, Hewlett-Packard began a program to extend Internet service to the more rural areas of the country, securing Costa Rica a comfortable place in the high-tech global market. In 2004, Costa Rica became an observer in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and began to widely increase its trading with South East Asia.

Today, Costa Rica’s export-oriented economy relies primarily on tourism, and the industry is growing. Statistics have recorded a significant increase in tourism from year to year, making it even more important. Governmental development strategies for Costa Rica have been geared increasingly toward environmental and social sustainability, as tourists mainly come to Costa Rica for two reasons: its wilderness and its reputation for convenience and safety.