Costa Rica’s political stability and economic prosperity have earned the country its global status as “the Switzerland of Central America.” In 2025, the World Bank Group classified Costa Rica as a high-income economy, noting that the nation’s national poverty rate had fallen to 15.2%. Meanwhile, Trading Economics reported a 7% unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2026. Despite the country’s progress in reducing unemployment and national poverty, inequality remains high, according to the World Bank. Here is information about how Costa Rica is addressing economic inequality.

Informal Employment

Informal employment often leaves workers without social protection and job security. In its 2025 report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that around 40% of workers in Costa Rica are informally employed. Meanwhile, a 2023 IMF report found that Nicaraguan migrants and refugees represented 82% of Costa Rica’s foreign-born population, while 55% of Nicaraguan workers held informal jobs.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has helped migrant workers enter formal employment through its initiative, Migrant Labour Traceability System. Between 2025 and 2026, the initiative helped more than 15,000 agricultural migrant workers gain temporary work permits. Furthermore, through various labor inclusion programs, IOM provided support to more than 500 companies to aid in the recruitment of migrant workers.

Not only do these opportunities help migrant workers progress toward economic and job security, but they can help employers fill shortages. For example, there was a shortage of 1,500 drivers in Costa Rica.

Labor Training

Costa Rica is addressing economic inequality in a dual economy, which consists of an advancing technological and manufacturing sector and a slower-growing domestic market. The nation has a shortage of workers skilled in the advancing, knowledge-intensive industries.

The Trade and Investment Promotion Agency of Costa Rica (Procomer) has created a range of initiatives designed to develop and strengthen professional and technical skills. Procomer’s Talent Development Incentive for Exporting Companies and Free Trade Zone Businesses initiative co-finances technical and specialized training for current employees and people being recruited by companies in the foreign-trade sector. By August 2026, the program had benefited more than 10,000 people.

Another Procomer initiative, Talent Up, offered 10,000 free Google Cloud and Artificial Intelligence scholarships. Its August 2026 announcement said 5,000 had been awarded and 5,000 remained available.

Increasing the technical skills of the workforce could help increase a person’s employability in the fast-growing, knowledge-led industries.

Extortion

An exploitative scheme active in Costa Rica is the Gota a Gota Loans, which involves an informal process of acquiring loans. These loans can carry interest above the legal ceiling and, in many cases, late repayments of the loans can lead to violence and threats. This form of lending can be dangerous to a person’s livelihood and could lead to debt and poverty.

On Sept. 29, 2025, a United Nations report noted the loans operation, its structure and the impact on Costa Rica. Significantly, the report provides details on the operation, which could help the Costa Rican government assess patterns and gain more knowledge on the operation. The report also proposes 10 recommendations for combating the exploitative scheme. One suggestion of the report was the implementation of financial education to different age groups so that people are knowledgeable about which lending schemes could be exploitative and dangerous.

In May 2024, eight financial institutions announced a plan that included an awareness campaign about the dangers of informal extortionate lending.

For Global Money Week in March 2026, Costa Rica announced activities to teach young people about financial safety and responsible financial decisions.

The Path to Economic Stability

Costa Rica is addressing economic inequality through initiatives and international assistance. Furthermore, the initiatives can support national economic growth through creating a more skilled and protected workforce.

Costa Rica’s efforts to address economic inequality show practical ways to expand access to safer work, training and financial education.

– Jasmine Chaudhry

Jasmine is based in Burnley and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr