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Trade between Costa Rica and the Netherlands

In 2024, Costa Rica exported $1.8 billion to the Netherlands and imported $357 million. Costa Rica ran a surplus of $1.5 billion with the Netherlands, compared with a surplus of $612 million in 2019. The Netherlands was Costa Rica’s 4th largest trading partner (4% of its trade), and Costa Rica was the Netherlands’ 61st (0.2%).

Summary

Costa Rica → Netherlands
$1.8billion
Netherlands → Costa Rica
$357million
Costa Rica’s balance
$1.5billion

Balance

Costa Rica’s trade balance with the Netherlands

Trade between Costa Rica and the Netherlands grew 14-fold since 1995

USD billions (current). Costa Rica’s exports and imports; bars: its balance (green surplus, red deficit).

  • Exports 1.8
  • Imports 0.4
  • Balance +1.5

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearExportsImportsTrade balance
1995$109 million$48 million$61 million
1996$135 million$38 million$97 million
1997$133 million$42 million$91 million
1998$172 million$62 million$110 million
1999$306 million$59 million$247 million
2000$295 million$102 million$193 million
2001$199 million$112 million$87 million
2002$216 million$138 million$78 million
2003$794 million$173 million$621 million
2004$1 billion$141 million$901 million
2005$1.3 billion$107 million$1.2 billion
2006$1.3 billion$147 million$1.2 billion
2007$1.3 billion$197 million$1.1 billion
2008$1.6 billion$273 million$1.3 billion
2009$1.5 billion$122 million$1.4 billion
2010$2.1 billion$95 million$2 billion
2011$2.5 billion$162 million$2.3 billion
2012$2.8 billion$123 million$2.7 billion
2013$2.4 billion$176 million$2.2 billion
2014$2.1 billion$124 million$2 billion
2015$558 million$100 million$459 million
2016$576 million$109 million$467 million
2017$660 million$112 million$548 million
2018$772 million$100 million$672 million
2019$866 million$255 million$612 million
2020$1.4 billion$142 million$1.3 billion
2021$2.1 billion$130 million$2 billion
2022$1.4 billion$143 million$1.2 billion
2023$1.5 billion$292 million$1.2 billion
2024$1.8 billion$357 million$1.5 billion

What they sell each other

What Costa Rica sells to the Netherlands

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Medical and dental instruments$798 million · 43.3%
    3 thousand tonnes · Costa Rica’s destinations
  2. Orthopedic and hearing devices$322 million · 17.5%
    94 tonnes
  3. Microchips$174 million · 9.4%
    7 tonnes · Costa Rica’s destinations
  4. Bananas$133 million · 7.2%
    225 thousand tonnes · Costa Rica’s destinations
  5. Avocados, mangoes, pineapples and dates$90 million · 4.9%
    82 thousand tonnes
  6. Palm oil$79 million · 4.3%
    87 thousand tonnes · the Netherlands’ sources
  7. Fruit and vegetable juices$59 million · 3.2%
    75 thousand tonnes
  8. Preserved fruit and nuts$33 million · 1.8%
    43 thousand tonnes
  9. Live plants and cuttings$23 million · 1.3%
    10 thousand tonnes
  10. Ornamental foliage and branches$20 million · 1.1%
    5 thousand tonnes

What the Netherlands sells to Costa Rica

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Refined petroleum$202 million · 56.7%
    277 thousand tonnes · the Netherlands’ destinations
  2. Bulbs, tubers and rhizomes$9 million · 2.6%
    3 thousand tonnes
  3. Medical and dental instruments$9 million · 2.5%
    29 tonnes · the Netherlands’ destinations
  4. Orthopedic and hearing devices$7 million · 2.1%
    5 tonnes
  5. Powdered and condensed milk$7 million · 1.9%
    3 thousand tonnes · the Netherlands’ destinations
  6. Vaccines, blood and antisera$6 million · 1.8%
    12 tonnes · the Netherlands’ destinations
  7. Mixed fertilizers$6 million · 1.7%
    12 thousand tonnes
  8. Welding electrodes and rods$5 million · 1.5%
    2 thousand tonnes
  9. Nitrogen fertilizers$4 million · 1.2%
    14 thousand tonnes
  10. Chocolate$4 million · 1.2%
    570 tonnes · the Netherlands’ destinations

How it travels

Estimated sea route from Golfito to Rotterdam.

The estimated sea route between Golfito and Rotterdam is 5,401 nautical miles (10,003 km) long: ≈ 12.5–16 days at sea (at 18 and 14 knots).

Passages it crosses: Panama Canal and Strait of Dover.

Sailing estimate without port calls, waiting or transshipment; not a schedule. One main reference port per country: in large countries it does not represent all of its ports.

Split by transport mode

  1. Sea$852 million · 38.7%
  2. Air$1.3 billion · 61.3%

Mode estimated from value per kilo and geography; both directions together.

How much each matters to the other

The Netherlands was Costa Rica’s 4th largest trading partner (4% of its trade), and Costa Rica was the Netherlands’ 61st (0.2%).

The Netherlands in Costa Rica’s trade
4.3%
The Netherlands’ rank among Costa Rica’s partners
4th
Costa Rica in the Netherlands’ trade
0.2%
Costa Rica’s rank among the Netherlands’ partners
61st

Compare with

Other partners of Costa Rica

Other partners of the Netherlands

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), in current US dollars, with exports and imports reconciled between countries. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. The sea route comes from our own network derived from World Bank shipping density (not from nautical charts), between one main reference port per country (World Port Index); days are the distance at 14 and 18 knots, without port calls or waiting. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.