OECD Economic Surveys

Table of contents -- Basic Statistics of Costa Rica, 2014 -- Executive summary -- Main challenges-Key recommendations -- Assessment and recommendations -- Figure 1. Costa Rica's economic, social and environmental track record is strong -- Figure 2. Well-being indicators are comparable with OECD average -- Figure 3. Life satisfaction is high -- Table 1. Key indicators -- Recent macroeconomic development and short term prospects -- The economy is recovering from a sharp slowdown -- Figure 4. The crisis has left lingering effects -- Table 2. Macroeconomic indicators and projections.

Box 1. Main vulnerabilities surrounding Costa Rican economy's prospects -- The government has proposed a wide-ranging tax reform to start tackling fiscal problems -- Figure 5. The fiscal outlook is challenging -- Figure 6. Fiscal revenue in Costa Rica is lower than in OECD countries -- Figure 7. The tax reform will raise the progressivity of the personal income tax by little -- Public employment reform is urgent to control the public sector wage bill -- Figure 8. Public employment is low and the wage bill high -- Figure 9. The public-private sector wage gap is large.

Overhauling the Costa Rican fiscal policy framework -- Figure 10. The public sector of Costa Rica is highly fragmented -- Table 3. Costa Rica's central government budget is excessively rigid -- Public debt is rising -- Figure 11. Debt sustainability hinges on fiscal reform -- Monetary policy is moving towards inflation targeting but financial dollarisation remains high -- Figure 12. The transition towards inflation targeting has lowered the exchange rate pass-through -- Figure 13. Central bank's interventions lower foreign exchange rate volatility.

Figure 14. Exchange rate expectations have been stable and financial dollarisation is still high -- Figure 15. Banks' capital-to-asset ratios are higher than in peer countries -- Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in Costa Rica -- Figure 16. Inequality is rising -- Table 4. Relative contribution of each source of income to total inequality -- Figure 17. Transfers in-kind reduce inequality -- Table 5. Distribution of beneficiaries of social programmes by income quintile -- Making the labour market more inclusive -- Figure 18. Unemployment is high and hits the poor hard.

Figure 19. Female labour market participation is low -- Figure 20. Informal employment is increasing -- Figure 21. Employer social security contributions are high -- Improving the quality of education -- Figure 22. Spending on education is high but outcomes are low -- Figure 23. PISA scores can be improved -- Increasing efficiency in the health system -- Figure 24. Out-of-pocket spending is high and increasing despite high health spending -- Boosting potential output growth and productivity while protecting the environment -- Sustaining environmental protection to reinforce the green trademark.

Figure 25. The high share of renewable in electricity contributes to low emissions per capita.

Description based upon print version of record.