s remain attracted by the
country's political stability and high education levels, and tourism
continues to bring in foreign exchange. Low prices for coffee and
bananas have hurt the agricultural sector. The government continues
to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal debt. The
reduction of inflation remains a difficult problem because of rises
in the price of imports, labor market rigidities, and fiscal
deficits. Costa Rica recently concluded negotiations to participate
in the US - Central American Free Trade Agreement, which, if
ratified by the Costa Rican Legislature, would result in economic
reforms and an improved investment climate.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $35.34 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.6% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $9,100 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 29.4%
services: 62.1% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
20.2% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
20.6% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 36.8% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
45.9 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.4% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
1.758 million (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
6.7% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.313 billion
expenditures: $2.851 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003 est.)

Public debt:
56.1% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes;
beef; timber

Industries:
microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing,
construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products

Industrial production growth rate:
8% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.839 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
6.109 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
379 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
128 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
37,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Current account balance:
$-970 million (2003)

Exports:
$6.176 billion (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic