Costa Rica Currency Exchange Rates

The Costa Rican "colón", also denoted by CRC, is the official currency of Costa Rica.  The colón is subdivided into 100 centimos, although you will probably never see or have to handle céntimos, or anything lower than a 5-colon coin. 

Coins come in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 colones.  There are paper notes in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000,10,000 and 20,000 colones. You might also come across a special-issue 5-colón bill that is a popular gift and souvenir. It is valid currency, although it sells for much more than 5 colones.

Until September of 2006 the currency devalued against the dollar consistently for decades at a rate of about one colón per week.  In 2006, Costa Rica's Central Bank began a new "crawling band" system of regulation where the bank stipulates a range within which the various money institutions are free to set their buying and selling price against the US dollar.  Costa Rica’s Central Bank publishes a daily reference rate that’s the average of the previous day's public buying and selling rates at the various financial institutions.  Since then, the exchange rate has stayed remarkably stable at somewhere between 490 and 530 colones to the dollar.

You can change money at all banks in Costa Rica.  Currency other than US$ can be exchanged only with difficulty. Canadian dollars and British Sterling can be exchanged at Banco Lyon. Canadian dollars can also be exchanged at Banex.  Since banks handle money exchanges, there are very few exchange houses in Costa Rica; Costa Rica’s hotels will often exchange US dollars and even traveler’s checks.  Exchanging money on the streets is not recommended as it is extremely risky.

Costa Rica’s economy will increase a 4% in 2010

By the end of 2010, Costa Rica’s economy will experience a 4% growth, according to the Economy Committee for Latin America (Cepal).  This result exceeds the percentage estimated by Costa Rica’s Central Bank of 3.2%. By the end of 2010 Costa Rica's economy experienced a 4% growth...

Even though Central America’s external conditions are more complex than those in the rest of Latin America, Costa Rica’s economical growth was one of the strongest in the region.  Other Central American countries, such as El Salvador, have experienced a slower economical recovery, with percentages down to 1.5%.

The country’s economy readjustment has also benefited national employment.