By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff

Costa Rica’s exports registered $3.3 billion during the first five months of this year, marking a 17.2% growth over the same period last year, announced Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz at a press conference yesterday.

“Export growth continues to be strong, and it is very likely that we will reach our goal of 10-12% growth this year,” said Ruiz, who attributed export increases to the agricultural and industrial sectors.

Agricultural exports grew 17% over last year, and the strongest products were bananas and pineapple. Meanwhile, the strongest products in the industrial sector were integrated circuits, electric microstructures and modular circuits.

The exported products that showed the most growth during the first five months of the year were ethyl alcohol, which grew 85%, and precious metals, which grew 76%, said Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) Director Martín Zúñiga. Electric components for microprocessors, bananas, textiles, pineapple, coffee and medicine also showed significant growth.

The United States continued to be the main importers of Costa Rican goods, accounting for 41% of total exports, while the Netherlands came in second place, accounting for 7.8% of exports, followed by Hong Kong (5.6%), Guatemala (4.2%), China (3.8%), Nicaragua (3.6%), Panama (3.4%), Honduras (3.3%) and El Salvador (3.2%).

The markets showing the most growth so far this year were South Korea, Vietnam, Suriname, Portugal, Haiti, Canada and the Netherlands, all of which showed more than 64% growth.