Intelligent Investment
San Jose, Costa Rica Market
Global Life Sciences Atlas
April 11, 2025 5 Minute Read
Overview
- Costa Rica is Latin America’s second-largest exporter of medical devices, the country’s top industrial export since 2015.
- Eighty-three global life sciences companies maintain a presence in Costa Rica.
- The strategic location of the country, coupled with free-trade agreements, has created a favorable environment for life sciences expansion, particularly in manufacturing, as well as research and development (R&D).
- Notable life sciences occupiers Boston Scientific and Medtronic announced expansion of their current operations in Costa Rica in recent years.
- Nine of the 15 largest medical device companies in the world maintain a presence in Costa Rica.
Figure 1: Medical Device Exports
Submarkets
Figure 2: Life Sciences Employment
Life Sciences Market Stats
Figure 3: Life Sciences Office Net Absorption (SF)
Development Pipeline or Activity
- Life sciences construction in San Jose is dominated by manufacturing and medical device uses on the periphery of the Alajuela metro.
Figure 4: 2024-2027 Project Deliverables
- Abbott
- Align Technologies
- Bayer
- Baxter
- Boston Scientific
- Edwards Life Sciences
- GSK
- Pfizer
- Roche
- Terumo Neuro
- University of Costa Rica
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