U.S. Relations With Costa Rica

More information about Costa Rica is available on the Costa Rica Page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet.

U.S.-COSTA RICA RELATIONS

The United States established diplomatic relations with Costa Rica in 1851, following Costa Rica’s independence from Spain and the later dissolution of a federation of Central American states.  A strong democracy of more than five million people with deep ties to the United States, Costa Rica is an important, committed partner on key U.S. priorities in the region, including security, democracy and human rights, governance, economic prosperity, climate change, addressing the root causes of irregular migration and humane migration management.

Costa Rica has an attractive trade and investment climate and remains one of the strongest voices in the Western Hemisphere on human rights and the rule of law.  The country is a key partner in the fight against transnational crime and drug trafficking.  Since 2020, Costa Rica has ranked among the top first-stop transshipment points for cocaine headed from South America to the United States and Europe, leading to increased crime and related corruption.  Costa Rica has welcomed migrants and refugees, mostly from Nicaragua, and is also a transit country for regional and extracontinental migration.

Costa Rica is a major destination for U.S. retirees and tourists.  Approximately 120,000 private U.S. citizens, including many retirees, reside in the country.  In 2023, almost 1.5 million U.S. citizens, representing 54 percent of all foreign travelers, visited Costa Rica.

The United States and Costa Rica continue to collaborate to combat the trafficking of Costa Rican antiquities into the United States and to broaden our bilateral engagement on cultural heritage issues under a Cultural Property Agreement signed in January 2021.

U.S. Migration Policy Towards Costa Rica and the Region

Costa Rica is a transit hub and destination, but not a source country, for individuals migrating irregularly.  The United States and Costa Rica work together to promote safe, orderly, humane, and lawful migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.  During the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, the Government of Costa Rica endorsed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, through which states commit to protecting the safety and dignity of all migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons, regardless of their migratory status, and acknowledges that addressing irregular migration requires a concerted regional approach.  The L.A. Declaration and U.S. Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America are the principal frameworks guiding U.S. diplomatic efforts and foreign assistance (related to migration) across Central America.  These strategies support Costa Rica in addressing the challenges it faces as both a destination and transit country for migrants and refugees.  Costa Rica participates in several regional fora on migration management.  Costa Rica served as the President Pro Tempore of the Quito Process in 2024 and will serve as the President Pro Tempore of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) and the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (MIRPS) in 2025.

The United States works closely with the international community to assist countries like Costa Rica that are destination and transit countries for refugees and migrants.  The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) provided nearly $90 million since 2018 in humanitarian assistance through international organization and NGO partners to meet urgent and lifesaving needs for refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants in Costa Rica, including access to potable water, emergency health services, and child protection.  PRM programs also support host communities and contribute to asylum and migration management capacity-building efforts for the Government of Costa Rica. The Labor Migration Traceability System (SITLAM) is a key PRM programming success, regularizing circular labor between Costa Rica and both Nicaragua and Panama, filling critical labor shortages, and providing migrants with access to legal identification and government services.

Since 2016, Costa Rica has supported regional efforts to resettle particularly vulnerable refugee applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras through a Protection Transfer Arrangement (PTA), a tripartite memorandum of understanding between the Government of Costa Rica, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  Approximately 500 refugees have been resettled to the United States through this mechanism to date.  In April 2022, UNHCR began to refer Nicaraguans from Costa Rica to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for possible resettlement in the United States.  With the support of the Safe Mobility Initiative launched in June 2023, more than 3,000 individuals have been resettled to the United States via the USRAP.

U.S. Assistance to Costa Rica

Beyond migration, U.S. assistance to Costa Rica helps counter drug trafficking and transnational crime, supports economic development, strengthens semiconductor supply chains and cybersecurity, improves governance, and contributes to security in Central America.  Since FY 2020, the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided more than $221 million in bilateral and regional development, economic, security, and humanitarian assistance for Costa Rica.  A safe, prosperous Costa Rica contributes to regional stability and leads directly to a safer, more prosperous United States.

The United States works hand in hand with a wide range of Costa Rican government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to help secure Costa Rica’s borders, professionalize its police, strengthen its judicial sector, improve its corrections system, and empower at-risk youth and other vulnerable populations.

U.S. embassy programs promote entrepreneurship, economic inclusion, high-tech supply chain integration, women’s empowerment, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) works closely with Costa Rican security partners to build capacity and assist disadvantaged communities.  Through cooperation and assistance from INL and other law enforcement agencies, Costa Rica confronts its drug trafficking problem by intercepting and confiscating illicit drugs.  Costa Rica seized 50 metric tons of narcotics (including cocaine and marijuana) in 2022 and 43 metric tons in 2023.  Since FY 2018, the Department of State allocated over $269 million in bilateral and regional security assistance to strengthen and modernize Costa Rica’s security forces, improve local security throughout the country, reduce the influence of corruption, and enhance the justice sector’s ability to investigate and prosecute transnational criminals.  This assistance includes equipment donations; training and technical assistance that enhance Costa Rica’s capacity to confront the growing threat of organized crime and narcotrafficking; and preventive policing strategies that create communities resilient to crime and provide licit alternatives for vulnerable communities and at-risk youth.

Bilateral Economic Relations

The United States and Costa Rica are parties to the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which aims to facilitate trade and investment and further regional integration by eliminating tariffs, opening markets, reducing barriers to services, and promoting transparency.

The United States is Costa Rica’s largest trading partner, accounting for approximately 40 percent of its imports and exports.  Total (two-way) trade in goods between the United States and Costa Rica totaled $19.7 billion in 2023.  The United States also represents the largest source of tourism and foreign direct investment to Costa Rica.  According to the Costa Rican Central Bank, U.S. foreign direct investment in Costa Rica was $2.6 billion in 2023, 67 percent of total FDI.  U.S. exports to Costa Rica include petroleum products, electrical machinery, optical and medical instruments, machinery, and plastics.  U.S. imports from Costa Rica include medical devices, pineapples, bananas, and coffee.

The State Department partners with Costa Rica to diversify and grow the global semiconductor ecosystem and create a more resilient, secure, and sustainable global semiconductor value chain.  This partnership is enabled by the International Technology Security and Innovation (“ITSI”) Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022.  Our collaboration underscores the significant potential to expand this industry, and specifically the assembly, testing and packaging sector, in Costa Rica, and to build Costa Rica’s skilled workforce to support new and expanded industry investment.

Cultural and People-to-People Ties

The embassy collaborates with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to support educational exchange, English language training, and efforts to foster entrepreneurship in Costa Rica.  Programs include the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), Young Leaders in the Americas Initiative (YLAI), and English-language programming including scholarships, exchanges, and teacher training to bolster inclusive economic and workforce development in support of mutual prosperity goals.

Costa Rica is currently the number one destination for U.S. students studying abroad in Latin American, and historically the top destination within the Western Hemisphere for Gilman Scholars – outstanding U.S. undergraduate students with high financial need – to study and intern abroad.  Exchange programs that send Costa Rican students and scholars to the United States include the following:  Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Study of the U.S. Institutes, and the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program.  In addition, the embassy participates in several ECA professional exchange programs including: the International Visitor Leadership Program, Community Solutions, the Community Engagement Exchange, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program.

The embassy supports three American Spaces, with a fourth American Space inaugurating in 2025, as well as EducationUSA advising in Costa Rica to support outreach to Costa Rican audiences and promotion of U.S. higher education opportunities for Costa Rican students.

Costa Rica’s Membership in International Organizations

Costa Rica and the United States belong to several of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and World Trade Organization.  In May 2021, the United States and other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) welcomed Costa Rica as the OECD’s 38th member state, the result of a multiyear effort by Costa Rica to align its economic policies with OECD recommendations.

Costa Rica is one of 12 founding members of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (Americas Partnership or “APEP”), an initiative launched in 2023 with an inaugural summit at the White House that focuses on driving regional competitiveness to foster inclusive, sustainable, shared prosperity.  Costa Rica will host the next Americas Partnership Leaders’ Summit in 2025.

Bilateral Representation

Principal U.S. embassy officials are listed in the Department’s Key Officers List.

Costa Rica maintains an embassy  in the United States at 2114 S Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (tel. 202-480-2200).  Costa Rica also maintains Consulates General in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.

More information about Costa Rica is available from the Department of State and other sources, some of which are listed here:

CIA World Factbook Costa Rica Page
U.S. Embassy
History of U.S. Relations With Costa Rica
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Countries Page
U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics
Export.gov International Offices Page
Travel Information
Human Rights Report: Costa Rica 2020
Investment Climate Statements: Costa Rica