l growth rate: 3% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$5,500 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 18%
industry: 24%
services: 58% (1995)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 11.2% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 868,300
by occupation: industry and commerce 35.1%, government and services
33%, agriculture 27%, other 4.9% (1985 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5.7% (1997 est.); much underemployment

Budget:
revenues: $1.1 billion
expenditures: $1.34 billion, including capital expenditures of $110
million (1991 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 10.5% (1992)

Electricity-capacity: 1.094 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 4.53 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 1,323 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: coffee, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans,
potatoes; beef; timber (depletion of forest resources has resulted in
declining timber output)

Exports:
total value: $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: coffee, bananas, textiles, sugar
partners: US, Germany, Italy, Guatemala, El Salvador, Netherlands, UK,
France

Imports:
total value: $3.4 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities: raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment,
petroleum
partners: US, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Germany

Debt-external: $3.2 billion (October 1996 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 Costa Rican colon (C) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates: Costa Rican colones (C) per US$1-243.55 (December
1997), 232.60 (1997), 207.69 (1996), 179.73 (1995), 157.07 (1994),
142.17 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 281,042 (1983 est.)

Telephone system: very good domestic telephone service
domestic: NA
international: connected to Central American Microwave System;
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 71, FM 0, shortwave 13

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 18

Televisions: 340,000 (1993 est.)

@Costa Rica:Transportation

Railways:
total: 950 km
narrow gauge: 950 km 1.067-m gauge (260 km electrified)
note: the entire system was shut down in June 1995 because of
insolvency; most of system maintained in good order to facilitate
transfer in 1997 to private sector concessionaires

Highways:
total: 35,597 km
paved: 6,051 km
unpaved: 29,546 km (1996 e