POPULATION FACTS

• Population as of July 2010: - 4.6 million - 35.8% of the population is 15 to 35 years old - Annual population growth: 1.2% - GDP / Capita, 2010: $7,350
• Labor force 2010: 2.05 million - Unemployment, 2010*: 7.3% - Underemployment, 2010*: 11.2%
• Universal Health Care and Education System - Pillars of the national stability:
• Health: 8.2% of the GDP
• Education: 8.0% of the GDP

EMPLOYMENT & EDUCATION

• Labor pool will likely reach 2.7 million people in 2015
• Their educational system is ranked 22nd, the highest in Latin America
• Technical high school graduates for the service sector are in constant growth estimate 3.7 - 3.9 thousand in 2015
• Growth Projection for university graduates in 2015 45 thousand

COSTA RICA’S FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT INDICATORS

• Total FDI inflows have grown an average of 13.5% every year since 2001
• In 2010, FDI represented 4.1% of the GDP and FDI per capita reached US$318. Costa Rica ranks among the top countries in Latin America in both indexes
• FDI inflows have financed more than 90% of the current account deficit in the last decade

QUALITY OF LIFE

• San José ranks fourth in quality of life in Latin America, the country’s capital maintains a leadership over its competitors, such as China, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, India, and Colombia.
• Costa Rica has a strong commitment with environmental protection it ranks 3rd in the world in environmental performance and won the Future Policy Award 2010 in Biodiversity

ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE STABILITY

• 95% of electricity is generated from renewable sources (hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, and wind)
• Country’s current capacity to be doubled in 2016 (up to 4,018 MW)
• Private production of electricity will increase in more than 250 MW during the next three years
• Several industrial parks have redundancy through the connection to a second electrical substation within the national interconnected system

TELECOMUNICATIONS:

• Redundant fiber optic submarine cables (Maya & Arcos; Pacific Global Crossing)
• Satellite and terrestrial microwave network in place to meet demand in fixed, mobile, and Internet services
• New multinational players are expected to enter the market in 2011, providing private networks, Internet and mobile phone services, and abundant water supply
• Industrial parks for manufacturing facilities can provide more than 350,000 gallons of water per day