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The economy of Costa Rica is very stable, and depends essentially on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. According to a study conducted by ADEN Business School (which included 18 other countries in the region), Costa Rica is the fourth most competitive country in Latin America in 2012 and is part of a block of countries rated as having a "very good competitive level, with advances and developments in infrastructure, technology and macroeconomic stability".〔(camtic.org: ADEN Business School Study ), Spanish.〕 The nation scored a 71.8 out of 100 on a study which measured competitiveness based on 10 criteria. Compared to the 2011 rank, Costa Rica went up by one position (from 5th to 4th).〔 The (CIA World Factbook ) states that Costa Rica's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is US$12,900 (2013 est.); the reported GDP summed in 2012 to US$45.1bn with a population of 4,805,000.〔 The World Bank General Government Public Sector Debt (PSDGG) statistics showed a linear rise from US$8bn in 2009 to US$18bn in 2014, which translates to a growth rate of 12%.〔(World Bank PSDGG Statistics ), April 2014〕 The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos is charged with measuring other economic performance measures.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Principal )〕 Poverty has remained around 15-20% for nearly 20 years, and the strong social safety net that had been put into place by the government has eroded due to increased financial constraints on government expenditures. According to the CIA World Factbook, foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and relatively high education levels, as well as the incentives offered in the free-trade zones. Costa Rica has attracted one of the highest levels of foreign direct investment per capita in Latin America. However, many business impediments remain such as high levels of bureaucracy, legal uncertainty due to overlapping and at times conflicting responsibilities between agencies, difficulty of enforcing contracts, and weak investor protection. Inflation rose to 22.5% in 1995, dropped to 11.1% in 1997, 12% in 1998, 11% in 1999 and 13% in 2008. Measures taken by the Central Bank have reduced inflation substantially to 4.3% in 2009, and a projected 5.8% for 2010. Curbing inflation, reducing the deficit, and improving public sector efficiency through an anti-corruption drive, remain key challenges to the government. Previous political resistance to privatization had stalled liberalization efforts. However, after the signing of CAFTA, Costa Rica is now open to competition with its Central American partners in its insurance and telecommunications markets. Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. After 6.2% growth in 1997, GDP grew a substantial 8.3% in 1999, led by exports. Costa Rica had a US$6.64bn trade deficit in 2013, on exports of US$11.48bn and imports of US$18.13bn.〔(inec.go.cr: "Estadisticas de Comercio Exterior, 2013 )〕 Hybrid electronic circuits was the leading durable export category in 2013, followed by pineapple, banana, medical equipment, medical bioproducts, and coffee, juices, prosthetics, and surgery tools; these categories added up to over 50% of exports.〔 Miscellaneous circuits including telephones and miscellaneous petroleum products added to just under 25% of imports.〔 The strength in the nontraditional export and tourism sector is masking a relatively lackluster performance by traditional sectors, including agriculture. The central government deficit decreased to 3.2% of GDP in 1999, down from 3.3% from the year before. On a consolidated basis, including Central Bank losses and parastatal enterprise profits, the public sector deficit was 2.3% of GDP. Costa Rica had a formal line of credit with the World Bank valued at US$947M in April 2014, of which US$645M had been accessed and US$600M remained outstanding.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Costa Rica - Country Summary - World Bank Group Finances )〕 Controlling the budget deficit remains the single biggest challenge for the country's economic policy makers, as interest costs on the accumulated central government debt consumes the equivalent of 30% of the government's total revenues. This limits the resources available for investments in the country's deteriorated public infrastructure, investments in many cases that would result in higher quality infrastructure if they were better planned. ==Natural resources== Costa Rica's rainfall, its well-educated population, and its location in the Central American isthmus, which provides easy access to North and South American markets and direct ocean access to the European and Asian Continents. Costa Rica has two seasons, both of which have their own agricultural resources: the tropical wet and dry seasons. One-fourth of Costa Rica's land is dedicated to national forests, often adjoining beaches, which has made the country a popular destination for affluent retirees and ecotourists. It has one of the best economies in Latin America. Because of the ocean access 23.7% of Costa Ricas people fish and trade their catches to fish companies. In terms of the 2012 Environmental Performance Index ranking, Costa Rica is 5th in the world, and first among the Americas.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://epi.yale.edu/epi2012/rankings )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Economy of Costa Rica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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