5 days ago
Costa Rica's quiet rise as Latin America's high-tech hub
Long defined by its lush tropical rainforests and agricultural exports of coffee, bananas, and sugar, Costa Rica is quietly reinvented itself, shifting away from an agrarian economy to become a global powerhouse of high-tech industries – more dynamic and globally connected than ever before.
This article digs deeper into Costa Rica's modern transformation, showing how environmental integrity and economic ambition can move in step as it reframes its image abroad and redefines what a tropical economy can achieve on the world stage.
In a year when growth slowed or reversed across many OECD countries, Costa Rica defied the trend, recording GDP growth of 4.3 percent in 2024. The nation's sustained growth comes as the result of three decades of strategic transition – all underpinned by an open economy and a green ethos.
During this time, Costa Rica has shifted its focus from commodity exports to a diversified model that prioritises innovation, social empowerment and sustainability. In 2024, it became the second-largest exporter of high-tech goods in Latin America, after Mexico, spotlighting the country's advanced manufacturing success – from microchips to medical instruments.
This repositioning is reflected in the country's national brand: essential COSTA RICA. The brand's mission is to shape the country's export, tourism and investment promotion strategies around shared values of sustainability, social responsibility, innovation and excellence.
This national alignment has gained international recognition, with awards from the International Trade Centre and City Nation Place. Over 760 companies worldwide have been certified by essential COSTA RICA, marking their alignment with Costa Rica's national values.
In 2024, Costa Rica recorded over €28 billion in total exports — an 8 percent rise on the previous year. That figure includes €18.5 billion in goods and €9.9 billion in services, equating to 32 percent of GDP and supporting 700,000 jobs. Most strikingly, medical devices now account for 44 percent of all goods exports, with continued double-digit growth.
Companies like Boston Scientific, Medtronic and Abbott have turned Costa Rica into a regional hub for surgical instruments, catheters and diagnostic equipment, while long-term partners such as Intel Corporation continue to reinvest in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and R&D facilities.
But the world still has a taste for Costa Rica's sweetest exports. Over €1.4 billion of Costa Rican pineapples are exported around the world each year, with agricultural exports accounting for 18 percent of the country's total goods exports in 2024, 7 percent up from the previous year. As well as signalling a diverse rural economy, Costa Rica's agricultural market is also readily invested in sustainable farming practices, a strong indicator of future market stability.
If the country's manufacturing story is surprising, its tourism evolution is equally impressive. While Costa Rica's traditional eco-tourism sector continues to attract nature lovers and wellness seekers from around the world, the sector is expanding.
According to Costa Rica's investment agency Procomer, tourism-related investment more than doubled in 2024, accommodating new forms of engagement such as regenerative travel, scientific tourism, and remote working infrastructure for the global digital workforce.
Under progressive regulations, new tourism developments must meet strict environmental standards, helping ensure sector growth benefits local communities and ecosystems in the long term.
Perhaps Costa Rica's biggest leap, however, is invisible: digital services. In 2024, 58 percent of Costa Rica's service exports were knowledge-intensive, spanning IT, cloud computing, analytics, business services, and telecoms — much of it delivered to clients in North America and Europe.
Costa Rica's consistent investments in education and digital infrastructure have resulted in a tech-savvy, bilingual workforce. The country's universities and training institutions work closely with multinational firms to prepare students for roles in finance, analytics, and tech, further positioning Costa Rica as a high-trust environment for service trade.
The investment is certainly paying off – its citizens now have access to clean, high-margin job opportunities with global reach.
Growth also expands beyond the capital region. A fifth of companies preparing to export are now based outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, a sign of decentralisation that many regional economies in Latin America struggle to achieve.
Inclusive opportunities are another clear sign of the nation's progressive ambition. Over half of exporting companies participating in Costa Rica's trade programmes or initiatives are led by women. This is the result of concerted national efforts to embed inclusion in trade and investment strategies — and it's shifting the makeup of who participates in global markets.
For European businesses and buyers, Costa Rica offers something few other suppliers in the region can: sustainability with structure. The country benefits from a free trade agreement with the EU, which streamlines trade and reduces barriers, while bilateral partnerships with several member states serve to strengthen cooperation and investment ties.
In alignment with the EU's sustainability rules and consumer behaviour, Costa Rica's exports offer traceability, low-carbon production and environmental guarantees. The majority of its factories are already powered by renewable energy and widespread use of green-certified packaging shows a country following environmental practices that not only meet current regulations but anticipate future requirements.
Costa Rica's rise as a trade power comes without fanfare, but with integrity. It has emerged through long-term thinking, values-led development and a clear sense of what kind of nation it wants to be.
For tourists, it remains a place of wonder. For investors and tech firms, it's something else entirely: a reliable, forward-facing partner with a competitive edge.
In a shifting global landscape, Costa Rica isn't just keeping pace. It's setting the tone.
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