Costa Rica Construction Sector Grew By 59% Between March 2006 – March 2007

The construction sector had a growth of almost 59% in the last 12 months, due to new construction of houses and hotels, mainly in coastal zones.

Between March 2006 and February 2007, 6,167,692 square meters were built, whereas between March 2005 and February 2006 that figure was 3,880,187.

Miguel Tapia, economist and financial analyst of the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC), emphasized that this sector continues growing at a high pace, although throughout the whole 2006 it increased a 64%.

Tapia said the smaller rate of increase in February is because this year that growth is calculated on a “bigger” base and for that reason at the end of the 2007 a variation of 20% is expected.

“This year the sector will grow over 10% and 15% levels, which is considered normal; we will have near a million more square meters”, emphasized Tapia.

The CCC estimates the future behavior of the sector based on construction permits presented before the Federated School of Engineers and Architects.

Costa Rica Construction by Region:

According to the CCC, Santa Cruz, in Guanacaste, is the place where more construction took place in the last 12 months, 9% of the country’s total. It was in this area that construction grew by 131% last year, mainly due the tourist boom.

Garabito, in Puntarenas where Jacó is located also stands out as one of the more dynamic areas in the country.

Leslie Saborío, manager of the project development company Serco, confirmed the construction boom in Guanacaste is causing a lack of workers and increases in salaries of up to 30%.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.