Costa Rica’s medical device industry is booming

November 2^nd, 2015 (ICR News) Costa Rica’s medical device industry has grown significantly this year, according to the latest export figures provided by Costa Rica’s foreign trade promotion agency known as PROCOMER.

Costa Rica exported US $1.527 billion worth of medical devices between January and September of this year, a 28 percent increase compared to the same period in 2014.

An average of US $170 million worth of medical devices have been exported monthly so far this year, and if that figure holds steady the country should close the year having exported about US $2 billion of such devices. 

The medical device sector is helping to partially offset what has been an otherwise disappointing year for the country’s export sector, which contracted 16.7 percent as of September compared to the same period last year.

The slump in total exports is blamed mostly on the continued fallout of Intel’s decision to cease manufacturing operations in the country in April of last year, as well as a decline this year in agricultural exports – which producers are blaming, at least in part, on climate change.

Costa Rica is betting heavily on the medical device sector to help fill the void left by Intel, which is estimated to have contributed some US $6 billion annually to the country’s export figures. 

Costa Rica is already the second largest exporter of medical devices in Latin America, behind only Mexico.

Many analysts believe that medical devices could soon become the country’s top export.  Currently, the sector comprises about 20 percent of total exports.