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COSTA RICA PROFILE |
One of Central America's most affluent countries.
People
Population: 4.29 million.
Annual growth rate: 1.3%.
Ethnic groups: European and some mestizo 94%, African origin 3%, Chinese 1%, Amerindian 1%, other 1%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 70.5%, Evangelical Protestant 13.8%, other 4.3%, none 11.3%.
Languages: Spanish, with a southwestern Caribbean Creole dialect of English spoken around the Limon area.
Cities: Capital--San Jose (greater metropolitan area pop. 2.1 million,). Other major cities outside the San Jose capital area--Puntarenas, Limon, and Liberia.
Unlike many of their Central American neighbors, present-day Costa Ricans are largely of European rather than mestizo descent; Spain was the primary country of origin. However, an estimated 10% to 15% of the population is Nicaraguan, of fairly recent arrival and primarily of mestizo origin. Descendants of 19th-century Jamaican immigrant workers constitute an English-speaking minority and--at 3% of the population--number about 119,000. Few of the native Indians survived European contact; the indigenous population today numbers about 29,000 or less than 1% of the population.
Economy:
GDP: USD 26.23 billion.
GDP PPP: USD 52.22 billion.
Real growth rate: 7.3%.
Per capita income: USD 5,100. (PPP USD 11,862, 2006 est.)
After experiencing 8.8% growth in 2006, the Costa Rican economy settled down to an estimated 7.3% in 2007. Compared with its Central American neighbors, Costa Rica has achieved a high standard of living, with a per capita income of about USD 5,800, and an unemployment rate of 4.6%. Consumer price inflation is high but relatively constant at about a 10% annual rate in the last decade. Both the central government and the overall public sector ran fiscal surpluses in 2007.
Implementing CAFTA-DR, passing fiscal reform, pursuing responsible monetary policy, and creating an effective concessions process are the biggest challenges for the country's economic policymakers. Costa Rica ranks 115th out of 175 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business Index. This hampers the flow of investment and resources badly needed to repair and rebuild the country's deteriorated public infrastructure. |
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