Background to Costa Rica
Officially known as the Republic of Costa Rica, the country is located in Central America and borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the east and south. The country is on the coastline with the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east. In many ways Costa Rica is perfectly situated for business, tourism and those looking to relocate to a different country.
It is no surprise that the country is currently very popular amongst American expats and their numbers are growing each and every year. A simple journey from America down to Central America where the cost of living is only a fraction of that in the US would appear to be one of the main attractions as well as the weather, location and opportunities for the future.
When you consider that Costa Rica is one of the top Latin American countries in the human development index, very high in the environmental performance index and number one in the happy planet index it is perhaps difficult to understand why there is not more comment on the area.
Costa Rican economy
The Costa Rican economy is somewhat underdeveloped when you compare this to other areas of Central America with low wages, high poverty and a lack of investment in the country’s infrastructure. There is also an issue with inflation which topped 9% in 2007 and approach nearly 14% in 2008, although it has to be said that the Costa Rican government are currently trying to reduce the impact of inflation. The economy itself is dominated by electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development and there is also a very large exposure to the gambling arena, due in the main to the government’s attractive tax regulations.
