Costa Rica’s country brand strategy - Essential COSTA RICA - was developed in 2013 by an Inter-institutional Committee comprising The Costa Rican Trade and Investment Agency (PROCOMER), The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT), The Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX), Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, and The Ministry of External Relations.

Built on the reputation of the country, the Essential COSTA RICA country brand stands for the nation’s commitment to Excellence, Sustainability, Social Progress, Innovation, and Costa Rican Origin for the benefit of current and future generations.

It showcases the nation’s values focused on peace, education, and health through tourism, trade, and direct foreign investment, supporting many international initiatives, especially those aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.

Importantly, Essential COSTA RICA is backed by public policies aimed at sustainability, such as those on decarbonization (Costa Rica aims to achieve zero emissions by 2050).

Notably, the Essential COSTA RICA is backed by public policies aimed at sustainability. Costa Rica's commitment to decarbonize and achieve zero emissions by 2050 earned them the 2019 Champions of the Earth award from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It is well on track to reduce CO2 emissions as 99 per cent of the country’s electricity is already derived from renewable sources, supplying clean energy to nearly all its citizens.

According to the World Bank, Costa Rica is the first tropical country to reverse deforestation and the first Latin American country to receive a payment from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) for reducing its carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Enjoy stress-free living and share long, happy lives with low ecological footprints just like its residents as the Happy Planet Index ranked Costa Rica the best among 161 countries from 2006 - 2019 and in 2021 for providing a "good life without costing the earth".

2023 marked the 10th anniversary of Costa Rica's country brand strategy, and in this Spotlight, we deep dive into how the Essential Costa Rica country brand has helped set the country's growth trajectory with investment attraction, talent acquisition, and tourism.

In the framework of its tenth anniversary, essential COSTA RICA established its 2035 strategy, with a primary focus on addressing the fight against climate change in the country's messaging. This strategy was developed following an analysis and use of artificial intelligence to define global meta-trends that allow for the identification of topics that will remain relevant in the future. Additionally, sessions were held with Costa Rican stakeholders from various public and private sectors, including business chambers, academia, healthcare, tourism, among others. This analysis was developed with Bloom Consulting’s "Nation Brand Taxonomy Model.”

Let's take a closer look at leading brand reputation rankings that showcase how the country brand ranks among its peers.

Brand Finance, in its annual benchmark study on the value of nation brands, considers Costa Rica among the top 20 fastest growing nation brands in 2022, with an increase of up to 19%, to US$30 billion of brand value growth.

The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism edition 2022-2023 finds Costa Rica as a top performer in the Americas region (fourth place), praising its sustainability strategy as the engine of its economy. Meanwhile, Costa Rica ranks 9th in the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Trade edition 2022-2023 in the Americas region, for its high Country Brand Strategy Rating and FDI Net inflow scores.

Costa Rica’s steady commitment to building a strong country brand has won it many accolades over the years as a proof of its growing reputation on a global stage, like winning the Place Brand of the Year​ award by the City Nation Place forum in 2019. The brand steered the country as a world-wide example of social progress based on education, health, and sustainability.

Costa Rica’s creative use of its passport to highlight the country’s four key themes of national identity - conservation, transition to green energy, commitment to education and peace, and pride in creative talent - recently won the City Nation Place Awards 2022 in the Best Use of Design category.

To provide a resilient supply chain and boost manufacturing and exchange of goods, Costa Rica has 16 free trade agreements with Canada, China, the EU, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea and the US, giving it preferential access to 2.8 billion people and 61% of the world’s GDP and guarantees access to +150 export destinations helping businesses to remain competitive and expect steady growth.

Costa Rica provides a conducive business envirnoment for companies looking to set up shop or expand their business. According to the World Bank's Doing Business report, Costa Rica has grown steadily in its ease of doing business score, improving from 56.6 in 2010 to 69.2 in 2020.

Foreign investors looking to be a part of Costa Rica's economic diversification can safely invest here owing to the country's low corruption, educated and productive workforce, and stable government.

According to Investment Monitor’s 2022 Inward FDI Performance Index, Costa Rica received more than 13 times its fair share of inward greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to its GDP. Indeed, it currently features as #1 worldwide in greenfield investment attraction, according to fdiintelligence. Costa Rica hosts over 450 global companies that have established their regional headquarters in the country.