Government salaries are equivalent to 13% of GDP, on a par with Norway (13.6%) and easily exceeding the OECD average of 10.6%. As noted in the OECD’s Economic Survey of Costa Rica, 2016, Costa Rica’s “public-sector wage bill as a share of GDP is higher than in most OECD countries, even though its public employment share is among the lowest”. Effective increases in public sector salaries have far exceed negotiated targets and inflation in recent years (Figure 3.19).