Costa Rica Export Trade Data: $18.11B in 2023, Up 18.2%

The United States Buys Nearly Half of Costa Rica's Exports

Costa Rica shipped $18.11 billion worth of goods abroad in 2023, up 18.2% from $15.32 billion the year before. United States absorbed 46.1% of that total, worth $8.34 billion, nearly six times the total value bought by the next largest destination, a relationship reinforced by geographic proximity and the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which has eliminated most tariffs on goods moving between Costa Rica and the United States since it took effect in 2009.

Netherlands ranked second at 8.4% ($1.51 billion), and Guatemala followed at 4.9% ($888.00 million). Together, the USA, the Netherlands, and Guatemala, the top three buyers, account for 59.4% of total export value. Belgium added 4.6% ($839.06 million), a relationship closely tied to Costa Rica's fruit trade rather than the medical devices that dominate the rest of the export list. Nicaragua contributed 3.8% ($692.53 million), Panama 3.5% ($625.85 million), Honduras 3.3% ($598.22 million), and El Salvador 2.5% ($458.74 million), all part of a cluster of Central American neighbors on the list that reflects Costa Rica's role as a regional trading hub within its own isthmus, separate from the far larger flows of medical devices heading north. China added 2.3% ($416.66 million), and Japan rounded out the top ten at 2.1% ($379.84 million).

Medical Devices and Pineapples Define Costa Rica's Export Economy

Optical, photographic, measuring, checking, and medical or surgical instruments led all export categories in 2023, worth $7.61 billion and accounting for 42.0% of total value, more than every other category combined. Industry analysis of Costa Rica's manufacturing sector notes that medical devices surpassed agricultural products as the country's most exported goods back in 2017, with shipments that year comprising 27% of total export trade and companies such as Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Hologic anchoring a sector that has kept growing since, tripling in value since 2007 as more multinational manufacturers set up operations in and around the capital, San José, and the surrounding Central Valley. Fruit and nuts ranked a distant second at 14.0% ($2.53 billion). Trade reporting on the produce sector notes that Costa Rica is the world's leading pineapple exporter, with the fruit making up 35% of the country's agricultural exports and reaching 44 international markets, led by the United States at 54%, Belgium at 12%, and Spain at 8%, a pattern that lines up closely with Belgium's position among Costa Rica's top ten export buyers, since Belgian ports like Antwerp serve as major European distribution points for fresh produce arriving from Latin America before it continues on to retailers across the continent.

Miscellaneous edible preparations added 5.6% ($1.01 billion), and electrical machinery contributed 4.4% ($804.76 million). Plastics added 2.9% ($519.99 million), preparations of vegetables, fruit, and other plant parts 2.4% ($440.22 million), pharmaceutical products 2.3% ($412.51 million), and coffee, tea, mate, and spices 2.0% ($359.35 million), a modest share today for a crop still closely associated with Costa Rica's agricultural identity and its reputation for high-altitude, specialty-grade beans favored by roasters worldwide. Rubber and rubber articles added 1.9% ($348.28 million), and animal and vegetable fats and oils rounded out the top ten at 1.7% ($312.63 million).

A Steady Climb Through the Pandemic and Beyond

Costa Rica's export total has climbed in every year of the past five, an unusually consistent, steady path compared with many other economies covered in this dataset. It stood at $11.45 billion in 2019, edged up to $11.62 billion in 2020 even as the pandemic disrupted global trade broadly, likely helped along by steady or even rising global demand for medical devices during a worldwide health crisis, then climbed to $14.35 billion in 2021, $15.32 billion in 2022, and $18.11 billion in 2023, up 18.2% year over year.

With medical devices and precision instruments now making up more than two-fifths of export value, Costa Rica's trade profile looks less like that of a traditional agricultural exporter and more like a specialized manufacturing hub whose fortunes are tied to global healthcare demand and the ongoing investment decisions of a relatively small number of large multinational device makers rather than the health of any single agricultural crop or raw commodity market. For a closer look at how individual partner countries or product categories break down year over year, the data panels above provide the full detail behind these figures.