The raise has been approved by the Consejo Nacional de Salarios, government representatives and business owners supported the increase although it was rejected by the unions.

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The biggest percentage raise go to the the lowest paid employees: workers with no real qualifications like laborers, semi-qualified workers like kitchen helpers and warehousemen and qualified workers like plumbers, upholsterers and carpenters.

A bus driver who earns ¢7,662 per day will see his salary rise by ¢322 to ¢7,984 (US$15.29 per day*) as of the 1st of July




The 3.96% raise will go to employees in all other categories as defined by the Ministerio de Trabajo which would include all specialized jobs and jobs that require employees with degrees.

A person working in a warehouse now earns ¢221,949 per month which will increase by ¢8,789 to ¢230,738 per month (US$442 per month*).

After the increase:

  • A housemaid will earn ¢128,527 (US$246 per month)
  • Messengers, porters, building maintenance workers will earn ¢214,204 (US$410 per month)
  • Guards, warehousemen, receptionists, telephonist will earn ¢230,738 per month (US$442 per month*)
  • Sales agents, accounting assistants and secretaries will earn ¢242,765 per month (US$465 per month)

The private sector has 1,650,000 workers and these guidelines are for the minimum wage only.




You can download the Spanish language .pdf document for the mid-year 2010 Costa Rica minimum Salaries from the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social website here.




* Our calculations are based on c522:$1 and you can always see the current rate of exchange between the US dollar and the Costa Rica colon on the Costa Rica Central Bank website here.



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

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