That dollar amount results from a 71% acceleration compared to $11.6 billion five years earlier in 2020.
Year over year, the value of Costa Rica’s exported products gained 9.8% from $18.1 billion during 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Costa Rican colón depreciated by -13% against the US dollar since 2020 and weakened by -5% from 2023 to 2024. Costa Rica’s stronger weaker currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting from American currency.
Largest Customers for Costa Rican Exports
The latest available country-specific data shows that 85.6% of products exported from Costa Rica was bought by importers in: United States of America (47.9% of the Costa Rican total), Netherlands (8.6%), Guatemala (5.2%), Belgium (5%), Nicaragua (3.7%), Panama (3.1%), Honduras (3%), El Salvador (2.5%), mainland China (1.9%), Mexico (1.7%), Dominican Republic (1.6%) and Spain (1.4%).
From a continental perspective, 50.2% of Costa Rica’s exports by value was delivered to North American countries while 22.9% was sold to importers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Costa Rica shipped another 20.5% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.
Smaller percentages went to customers in Asia (6.1%), Africa (0.2%) then Oceania (0.2%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Given Costa Rica’s population of 5.33 million people, its total $19.9 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $3,700 for every resident in the Central American country. That per-capita amount exceeds the average $3,400 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 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Costa Rica.
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: US$8.7 billion (44% of total exports)
- Fruits, nuts: $2.8 billion (14%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $1.1 billion (5.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $839.1 million (4.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $544 million (2.7%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $486.4 million (2.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $452.5 million (2.3%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $356.4 million (1.8%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $330.1 million (1.7%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $289.3 million (1.5%)
Costa Rica’s top 10 export product categories generated about four-fifths (80.2%) of the value of total Costa Rican shipments.
Optical, technical and medical apparatus represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 15% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was miscellaneous food preparations via a 11.1% advance.
Costa Rica’s shipments of vegetable, fruit or nut preparations posted the remaining double-digit gain in value, up by 10.5%.
The leading decliner among Costa Rica’s top 10 export categories was animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes thanks to a -7.5% year-over-year drop.
At the more detailed Harmonized Tariff System code level, in 2024 Costa Rica’s most valuable exported products were electro-medical equipment including x-ray machines (34.1% of the Costa Rican total), orthopedic appliances (8.4%), dates, figs, pineapples, mangoes, avocadoes and guavas (6.9%), bananas and plantains (6.1%), miscellaneous food preparations (4.7%), coffee (1.8%), insulated wire or cable (1.5%), fruit or vegetable juices (1.2%), palm oil (1.1%), then new rubber tires (also 1.1%).
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$7.4 billion (Up by 18.1% since 2023)
- Fruits, nuts: $2.6 billion (Up by 9.1%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $804 million (Up by 10.6%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $315.8 million (Up by 4.7%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $258.1 million (Up by 15.4%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $207.6 million (Down by -12.3%)
- Vegetables: $164.1 million (Up by 5.1%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $125 million (Down by -4%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $74.4 million (Up by 136.3%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $54.7 million (Up by 41.8%)
Historically 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$3.8 billion trade deficit for 2024, reducing by -13.8% from the -$4.4 billion deficit one year earlier in 2023.
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$2.5 billion (Down by -4.7% since 2023)
- Vehicles: -$2.2 billion (Up by 30.7%)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.9 billion (Up by 3.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.5 billion (Up by 6.7%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.2 billion (Down by -3.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$669.6 million (Up by 7.2%)
- Paper, paper items: -$645.3 million (Up by 2.6%)
- Iron, steel: -$582.6 million (Up by 13.6%)
- Cereals: -$528.2 million (Down by -8.7%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$343.4 million (Down by -17.4%)
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 12.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($158.6 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 12.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 12.8% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing 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 8.3% for 2024, up from an average 7.297% in 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Domestically, Costa Rica’s average consumer price inflation transitioned to -0.258% for 2024 down from 0.525% in 2023.
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, 2025
Exchange-rates.org Costa Rican Colon to US Dollar, Exchange Rate History. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Forbes 2024 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on April 2, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 2, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Wikipedia, Costa Rica. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on July 2, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Costa Rica. Accessed on April 2, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 2, 2025