Costa Rica’s poverty rate fell almost 4% to 16.7% in just one year, according to the Home Poll 2007 realized by the National Institute of Censuses and Statistics (INEC). This was the biggest fall in 15 years.

The poverty line is set for those earning less than about $105 per month per person. The average monthly income for Ticos was about $465 this year.

However, these statistics do not refer so much to the middle classes. The report showed that the largest increase in income was earned by the 20% of the nation’s households that had the lowest income and the 20% of the households that already had the highest income. As the rich continue to get richer, there was a slight increase in household income inequality.

Overall, there was an increase of 19% in salaries throughout the nation, suggesting that the new jobs that are coming to the country are better paid. Many of these jobs were in the commercial, hotel, restaurant, construction, financial advising and real estate industries.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on November 1st, 2007