NEWS
Costa Rica Shines in MedTech Exports in First Half of 2021
San Jose, Costa Rica. July 29, 2021. The first six months of 2021 have faithfully reflected the dynamic nature of Costa Rica’s medical device exports, with figures that reinforce the country’s strategic leadership as the second-largest exporter of medical devices in Latin America.
According to Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (PROCOMER) data, medical and precision equipment continue to top the list of export products. The cumulative change from the first semester of 2020 to the first semester of 2021 was more than 46% or a net change of US$788 million.
Medical devices currently account for 34% of Costa Rica’s exported goods for a cumulative value of US $2,502 million in the first semester of 2021, on track for exceeding this year’s target of US$5,000 million.
How has Costa Rica achieved this?
The growth trend began in 2000 with only eight MedTech companies in Costa Rica. Twenty years later, this number was at 88, expanding from a MedTech workforce of 1,500 to more than 38,248.
The MedTech companies have found a strategic ally in Costa Rica for growing their operations and manufacturing devices for global health. Their confidence has enabled the country to develop an increasingly sophisticated manufacturing industry hand in hand with research and development and technology.
Today, 12 of the top 30 original equipment manufacturing (OEM) companies have set up operations in 14 different subsectors.
