The beginning of the second year of the pandemic presents a 17% increase in the export of goods

• The precision and medical equipment sectors have been highly dynamic, reporting an increase of 42%.
• Despite the low performance of the agricultural sector, the ornamental plants subsector is recovering.

San Jose, February 19, 2021. The export of goods for January 2021, envisage a good performance for the Costa Rican export sector, reaching a total of $976 million, or a 17% increase over the same month for 2020, which totaled $834 million.

The data for this first month of the year also confirms that Costa Rica’s market diversification model is not only successful but also effective, presenting an increase in all destination regions. The main markets such as North America, Europe and Central America grew +19%, +13% and +2%, respectively. While other regions with less participation also show significant increases such as Asia with +50%, the Caribbean with +54% and South America with +49%.

“We are pleased and hopeful about the  January goods export results. This growth is significant because it shows that, despite beginning the second year of the pandemic and a drop in international markets, Costa Rica’s export sector continues to renew itself and seek opportunities. It also demonstrates that the diversification of exports and the different markets that the Ministry of Foreign Trade has built on over the years continues to be a very resilient development strategy for the country. From the foreign trade sector, we remind you that you have an ally to continue advancing in this recovery and make 2021 a prosperous year for your business,” said the Minister of Foreign Trade, Andrés Valenciano.

Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager at PROCOMER, further commented that these results are much more commendable because they are comparing the exports of goods from a month without a pandemic (January 2020) against one with a pandemic (January 2021) and even thus the results are very positive.

“Exports are extremely important for the national economy, they represent 35% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generate thousands of jobs and chains. We have seen a gradual recovery in the value of our exports over the last five months with an important 17% increase for the month of January. Much remains to be done, but these numbers are a positive message that fills us with hope and motivates us to continue working to close the gaps in competitiveness and position our goods and services in international markets,” added Beirute.

In terms of sectors, the data also shows that precision and medical equipment are now the main export sector in the country with a participation of 35%, and starting the year out with a strong increase of 42% in exports ($102 million more than in 2020). Products such as prosthetics for medical use ($ 47 million), other devices for medical use ($36 million) and needles and catheters (+$17 million) are responsible for this growth.

Meanwhile, the agricultural sector, second in importance for Costa Rica with a representation of 22% of total exports of goods, presented a slight decrease of 3% (-$7 million) due to a drop in the export of bananas (-$20 million), cantaloupe (-$4 million) and coffee (-$1 million). However, ornamental plants, a sector hit hard by the crisis, is showing signs of recovery with an increase of 21% (+$2 million). Other products that have presented an increase in this sector include pineapple, with +14% (+$9 million), and frozen fruits, with +53% (+$3 million).

The food industry presents a growth of 18% (+$21 million) with an increase of 13% in syrups for soft drinks (+$4 million), 65% in sugar exports (+$4 million), 38% in fruit juices and concentrates (+$3 million) and 48% in beverage preparations (+$2 million).

Other sectors, such as pharmaceutical chemicals, presented an increase of 6%, while the electrical and electronic sectors came in with a 21% increase.

Products with most growth in January 2021 vs January 2020