Costa Rica: cradle of scientists

Costa Rica leads Latin America in the number of scientists and engineers as a percentage of total population, according to the Global Competitiveness Index, published recently by the World Economic Forum.

Worldwide, Costa Rica is in 21st place.

Panama placed second in Central America, but was low in the global ranking, in position 84.

Honduras, in 128th place, has the lowest availability of these professionals.

Finland tops the list of 148 countries, while Angola comes last.

The ranking is based on data from the Executive Opinion Survey, part of the Competitiveness Index (figures in parentheses represent the global position of each Central American country).

1. Costa Rica (21)
2. Panama (84)
3. Guatemala (94)
4. Nicaragua (104)
5. El Salvador (124)
6. Honduras (128)