Costa Rica received a total of 3.921 million dollars in foreign direct investment in 2023, 24% more than in 2022, and this represents a record figure, reported the Promoter of Foreign Trade (Procomer).
Data released by Procomer indicate that of the $3,921 million, 61 per cent corresponds to investments in free zones, followed by 19 per cent on a final basis (out-of-free zone enterprises), 7 per cent in the real estate sector, 7 per cent in tourism, 2 per cent in the financial sector, among others.
The manufacturing sector led investments with a 55 per cent share, followed by the services sector with 25 per cent, tourism with 7 per cent, real estate sector with 7 per cent, agriculture with 2 per cent, among others.
Procomer highlights the 187 per cent growth in investment in the services sector, from $336.8 million in 2022 to $965.5 million in 2023.
The United States remains the main source of foreign investment in Costa Rica with 71% of the total, followed by countries such as Belgium with 11%, Switzerland and Panama with 4% each.
Costa Rica’s country value proposal has been key in achieving these strong results in foreign direct investment. Being a globally recognized democracy, highly qualified human talent, a broad commercial platform, as well as openness to innovation and sustainable development have attracted the confidence of investors from all over the world, said Procomer’s general manager, Laura López.
According to official data, 59 new investment projects were announced in 2023, which meant a growth of 64 per cent compared to the 36 projects announced in 2022.
The projects announced in 2023 belong mostly to the services sector with 80% to services, and then appear 12% in the manufacturing sector, 5% in agro-industry and 3% of companies engaged in trade.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in El Mundo