Medical Devices in Costa Rica represent 28% of the total sales of Precision and Medical Equipment products.
Medical Devices in Costa Rica currently represent 28% of the total sales of Precision and Medical Equipment products, according to the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer).
This product division represented 34% of the country’s exports in the first month of 2022 and grew 20% (US$63 million more than in January 2021). Products, such as medical devices (+28%), needles and catheters (+21%), and equipment for intravenous injection (+124%), were the most responsible for this growth.
Such figures have placed Costa Rica as the second major exporter of Medical Devices in Latin America, only behind Mexico. The country has 88 MedTech companies that altogether employ more than 38,000 people.
Exports performed particularly well in Costa Rica amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, with sales of goods growing 24% last year, for a total of US$14,553 million; that is, US$2,858 million more than in 2020. This is the greatest increase in the last 15 years, leveraged by the Medical Devices rampaging growth, with a rise of US$1,289 million in exports compared to 2020.
The growth in exports also benefited from traditional products from the agricultural sector, which increased by 6% from 2020 to 2021; the food industry by 26%, and the pharmaceutical chemical sector by 10%, over the same period.
The good streak in exports comes from 2020 when the outbreak started. Costa Rica’s exports of goods grew 1.9% that year, reaching a record of US$11,683 million (US $214 million more than in 2019). This figure even exceeded the trade performance of Latin America and the Caribbean, which saw a 13% decline in its exports during the same period.
Useful facts of the MedTech Industry in Costa Rica
• Costa Rica is the second major exporter of Medical Devices in Latin America.
• Medical Devices are the #1 product of export in the country.
• Medtronic, the #1 Medical Device manufacturer worldwide, conducts operations in Costa Rica, specifically in Coyol Free Zone.
• Medical technology exports reached US$5 billion in 2021.
• More than 15% of medical technology companies do R&D cooperating with each other, or do it from corporate offices around the world.
• The MedTech Industry in Costa Rica has access to a market of 2.8 billion people, which represents 67% of the global GPI.
Coyol Free Zone and the Medical Devices industry
Coyol Free Zone is home to 7 of the Top 30 Medical Devices manufacturing companies worldwide (Medtronic, Abbott, Philips, Cardinal Health, Microvention-Terumo, Smith & Nephew, and Hologic), according to the 2021 MPO Top 30 Medical Device Companies Report.
Our companies account for 52% of Medical Devices exports in Costa Rica, which are worth more than US$2,088 million, according to the 2020 figures reported by Procomer.
Prestigious media outlets endorse our work and leadership in the MedTech Industry. We were recognized in 2021 as the Best Business Center for Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing in the Latin America region by The European magazine of Thomson Reuters. In addition, fDi Intelligence named us the Best Free Trade Zone for Medical Devices in 2018 and 2019 and as the Best Free Zone in Amerca in 2021.
The Park , as a business center in Costa Rica, has created a series of ideal conditions condensed into a world-class export platform for the Life Sciences industry. Companies can find on-site suppliers that provide sterilization (ETO & E Beam), packaging, molding, extrusion, assembly, and logistics services, which are services that altogether allow exporting the medical devices directly from Costa Rica.
We also provide an engineering team that can comply with global standards of buildings of Medical Products Manufacturers, through a Built-to-Suit management system that satisfies the needs of each company.