{"id":8387,"date":"2024-09-13T15:37:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T15:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/?p=8387"},"modified":"2024-09-16T12:51:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T12:51:56","slug":"costa-ricas-refugee-and-migrant-workers-a-boost-for-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/costa-ricas-refugee-and-migrant-workers-a-boost-for-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rica\u2019s refugee and migrant workers: a boost for growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Valeria Lentini<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The direct contribution of refugees and migrant employment to GDP per country\/region<\/strong>
(Average 2017-21; percent)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sources: IMF, World Economic Outlook database April 2023; Penn World Tables 10.01; ILOSTAT database on International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS); and IMF staff calculations. Note: PPP GDP-weighted average for country groups. LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; AE = advanced economies excl. USA; EMDE = emerging market and developing economies excl. LAC and China.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costa Rica, known for its relatively open immigration stance, has reaped economic rewards from hosting a significant number of refugees and migrants. A 2023 study conducted jointly by the IMF, IDB and UNHCR<\/a> reveals that between 2017 and 2021, refugees and migrant workers contributed a substantial 6.5% to the country’s GDP<\/strong>. This level of contribution aligns Costa Rica with high-income nations (6.9% on average), a notable achievement given that other emerging markets typically see only 1.2% on average of their GDP driven by foreign labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis highlights the role of migrant and refugee workers, predominantly Nicaraguans, who make up 82% of Costa Rica\u2019s foreign-born population. These workers are primarily employed in agriculture, construction, and other low-skilled sectors. Despite challenges like informality and wage gaps, their contribution to the labour force has been significant to Costa Rica’s economic growth. With the foreign-born population comprising 10% of Costa Rica\u2019s total, the country stands as a model in Latin America for leveraging migration to bolster economic resilience while managing fiscal impacts and contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite challenges like informality and wage gaps, the contribution of refugees and migrants to Costa RIca’s labour force has been significant to Costa Rica’s economic growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":385,"featured_media":8435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

by Valeria Lentini<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct contribution of refugees and migrant employment to GDP per country\/region<\/strong>
(Average 2017-21; percent)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sources: IMF, World Economic Outlook database\u00a0April 2023; Penn World Tables 10.01; ILOSTAT database on International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS); and IMF staff calculations.Note: PPP GDP-weighted average for country groups. LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; AE = advanced economies excl. USA; EMDE = emerging market and developing economies excl. LAC and China.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costa Rica, known for its relatively open immigration stance, has reaped economic rewards from hosting a significant number of refugees and migrants. A 2023 study conducted jointly by the IMF, IDB and UNHCR reveals that between 2017 and 2021, refugees and migrant workers contributed a substantial 6.5% to the country's GDP. This level of contribution aligns Costa Rica with high-income nations (6.9% on average), a notable achievement given that other emerging markets typically see only 1.2% (on average) of their GDP driven by foreign labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis highlights the role of migrant and refugee workers, predominantly Nicaraguans, who make up 82% of Costa Rica\u2019s foreign-born population. These workers are primarily employed in agriculture, construction, and other low-skilled sectors. Despite challenges like informality and wage gaps, their contribution to the labour force has been crucial in maintaining Costa Rica's economic stability and growth. With the foreign-born population comprising 10% of Costa Rica\u2019s total, the country stands as a model in Latin America for leveraging migration to bolster economic resilience while managing fiscal impacts and contributions.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21,23],"tags":[595],"class_list":["post-8387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-and-statistics","category-socioeconomic-inclusion","tag-notable-chart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8387"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8493,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8387\/revisions\/8493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}