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Figure 36. Costa Rica: Debt service as a percentage of total exports, 1977-2008
Source: World Bank, 2010.
External aid has been declining rapidly since the mid-1980s and Costa Rica today is almost entirely independent of official development assistance ODA. Between 1983 and 1985,
net ODA constituted 6 per cent of GNI, a figure that contrasted with the corresponding figure of 3.7 per cent for the rest of the 1980s, 0.9 per cent during the 1990s and 0.1 per
cent during the 2000s figure 37. ODA per capita, which peaked at US103.5 in 1985, reached US14.6 per person in 2008.
Figure 37. Costa Rica: ODA flows as a percentage of GNI, 1960-2008
Source: World Bank, 2010.
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Socioeconomic conditions in Costa Rica are in general much better than in most developing countries. The countrys long tradition of investing in health, education,
nutrition and housing ever since the army was abolished seems to have paid off. Poverty affects less than 20 per cent of the population and the country ranks among the top five
Latin American countries in terms of human development. Health conditions compare to those of developed countries, average life expectancy is close to 80 years and infant
mortality is less than 10 deaths per 1,000 live births. HIV prevalence is among the lowest in the continent table 8.
Table 8. Costa Rica: Key socioeconomic indicators, latest available year
Indicator Value
Year
Poverty headcount at national poverty line percentage 18.5
2009 Gini coefficient
0.44 2009
Human development index 0.85
2009 Life expectancy at birth years
79 2008
Infant mortality rate per 1000 live births 8.8
2009 Maternal mortality rate per 10,000 live births
3.3 2005
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 15 to 49 years old 0.4
2007 Adult literacy rate percentage
96 2007
Children underweight for age percentage 6.6
2008
Source: Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica, 2010.
6.2. Social protection programmes and social spending
Costa Rica has a long tradition of implementing social policies. Primary education was declared universal in the 19th century and social security was introduced in the 1940s. To
date, an extensive network of contributory and non-contributory programmes constitutes Costa Rica’s social protection floor. There are at least 34 programmes aimed at reducing
poverty, excluding the contributory social protection initiatives pensions and health insurance. Table 9 below summarizes the list of programmes currently operating in the
country, according to the nature of the programme.
The table is divided into two blocks of programmes, contributory social protection initiatives and non-contributory initiatives. Other social categories such as education and
culture are also included.
The contributory social security programmes are grouped around the management and coordination of the Costa Rican Social Insurance Fund CCSS created in 1943. The CCSS
administers the national health insurance fund and the contributory pension scheme. Although the Fund also delivers health services to indigent persons and pays pensions to
non-contributory groups, these segments are not classified as contributory in nature.
Non-contributory poverty-reduction programmes can be classified in two broad categories, each subdivided into five subcategories Trejos, 2009. The two categories are:
1. Selective promotional programmes. This group comprises all programmes aimed at
enhancing the capabilities of the target population or which complement existing universal programmes. The group includes key initiatives such as the CEN-CINAI
an early childhood development programme, the Comedores escolares a school meals programme and Avancemos, a conditional cash transfer programme to combat
high-school dropout.
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2. Social assistance programmes. These were created with the primary purpose of
compensating household income and reducing exclusion or vulnerability. Overall, they are not a significant factor in total expenditure on the social sector. With the
single exception of the National Care Network Red nacional de cuido, the programmes do not account more than 15 per cent of public spending on poverty or
vulnerability reduction strategies.
Table 9. Costa Rica: Contributory and non-contributory programmes
Contributory programmes Non-contributory poverty reduction programmes
Promotional selective programmes Social Protection Network
Complementary to universal programmes
Support to capability
enhancement Compensation Social
assistance Fight against
vulnerability or exclusion
National health insurance
CCSS Centro de Atención
Infantil CEN-CINAI: early childhood care
Employment- generation
programmes of the Ministry of Labour
Subsidies, IMAS
PANI Contributory
Pensions schemes
CCSS and others
Comedores Escolares: school meals
programme Emergencies, IMAS
National Network of
Care INAMU
Avancemos: conditional cash transfers to reduce
high school dropout National Emergency
Commission National Political
Council for Young People
Indigent population coverage with health-
care services CONAI
Handicapped people
Elderly people
Source: Céspedes; Jiménez, 2010. Note: The most important programmes in terms of coverage and expenditure are indicated in italics.
IMAS: Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social Joint Social Welfare Institute PANI: Patronato Nacional de la Infancia National foundation for children
INAMU: Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres National Institute of Women CONAI: Comisión Nacional de Asutos Indígenas National Commisssion of Indian Affairs
By 2009 about one-fifth of Costa Ricas GDP was allocated to social spending. After a sharp decline in the level of social investment during the mid-1990s, public social
expenditure recovered during the 2000s and stayed at around 15 per cent of GDP figure 38. A second wave of increments was experienced after 2006 with the introduction of the
Avancemos conditional cash transfer programme. What is also remarkable is the strong share of social expenditure in total public expenditure. In 1990 some 60 per cent of
government spending was assigned to social investment, rising to 70 per cent in 2006 and to 77.4 per cent in 2009.
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Figure 38. Costa Rica: Social spending as a percentage of GDP, 1990-2009
Source: Ministerio de Hacienda, 2010; International Monetary Fund, 2010b.
By category of spending, the share of education and social protection in total expenditure on the social sector was somewhere between 92 and 94 per cent figure 39. Their share
remained much the same throughout the last two decades, rising slightly in the second half of the 2000s. Between 1990 and 2009 culture and housing lost some ground and the
growth of social protection dropped behind that of education, at least during the last five years.
Figure 39. Costa Rica: Composition of social spending, 1990-2009
Source: Ministerio de Hacienda, 2010; International Monetary Fund, 2010b.
