Subject: Unbelievable Costa Rica All-Inclusive Vacation Specials: Now is the Time

From: "Costa Rica Vacations" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 17:08:02 -0700

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internal and external deficits, and a sizable internal debt. INCOME The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Costa Rica's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $40.3 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $10,000. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 3.2%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 13.8%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 8.6% of GDP, industry 28.3%, and services 63.1%. According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $321 million or about $80 per capita and accounted for approximately 1.8% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $28 million or about $7 per capita and accounted for approximately 0.2% of the gross nationa
l income (GNI). The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Costa Rica totaled $11.72 billion or about $2,925 per capita based on a GDP of $17.5 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 4.2%. It was estimated that in 2004 about 18% of the population had incomes below the poverty line. LABOR As of 2005, Costa Rica's labor force was estimated at 1.82 million workers. In 2003, the services sector accounted for 62.1% of the workforce, followed by industry at 22.2%, agriculture at 15.1%, and various other occupations at 0.6%. Unemployment was estimated at 6.6% in 2005. The law provides workers with the right to join and form unions, although this is limited in practice. Unionization was about 9
% of the total workforce in 2005. Solidarismo (solidarity associations), a Costa Rican alternative to traditional trade unions, have grown popular and have around 330,000 workers, 95% of whom are in the private sector. Solidarismo are nondues collecting associations and work to promote cooperative labor/management relations by offering workers practical benefits (like credit unions), in exchange for which workers renounce their striking and collective bargaining rights. Solidaristas are established with mutual contributions from the employer and the workers, so that the fund serves as savings plan, benefits, and severance pay. Private sector workers have the right to strike, but public employees are prohibited from striking. A minimum wage is set up by a National Wage Council. The private sector minimum wage ranged from $150 per month for domestic servants to $588 for university graduates in 2005. The workweek was set at 48 hours. Overtime pay is required for work in excess of that.
Occupational health and safety standards are inconsistently enforced, especially outside of San Jos??. Although child labor remains a problem, the government is working to eradicate abuses. The minimum working age is 15 years, while minors between the ages of 15 and 18 may work up to six hours per day and 36 hours per week. Night work and overtime for minors are prohibited. AGRICULTURE About 10.3% (525,000 hectares/1,297,000 acres) of the total land area is used for crop production. Nearly half of all farms average less than 10 hectares (25 acres) in size. Over 326,000 persons, or about 19% of the economically active population, were engaged in farming in 2003. Corn and sugar crops are usually sufficient to meet domestic needs, but beans and rice must be imported from time to time. Agriculture accounted for about 9% of the GDP in 2004. The principal cash crops are coffee, bananas, cocoa, and sugar. Coffee and bananas together accounted for 12% of exports in 2004, with values of $19
9.5 million and $545.4 million, respectively. Over 85% of coffee properties belong to Costa Ricans. The banana industry has been producing more than one million tons of bananas annually since the 1970s. The principal marketer of Costa Rica's bananas is Standard Fruit Co. Corn, rice, potatoes, beans, sisal, cotton, citrus fruits, pita (used to make hats, baskets, and mats), yucca, vegetables, pineapples and other fruits, tobacco, abaca (hemp), and vegetable oils (especially African and coconut palms) are produced primarily for domestic consumption. Estimated crop production in 2004 (in tons) was sugarcane, 3,945,000; bananas, 2,230,000; rice, 222,000; coffee, 126,000; corn, 12,000; dry beans, 10,500; and cocoa, 700. In 1999, agricultural output was 26% higher than the annual average during 1989???91. During 2002???04, it was 20% higher than during 1999???2001. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY About 46% of Costa Rica's total land area was devoted to livestock raising in the early 1990s as the result
of a major conversion of land to pasturage during the 1970s. In the past, Costa Rica had to import meat, but improvements in animal husbandry have made the country self-sufficient and provided a