Costa Rica tops in innovation

Ranked 53rd in the world, Costa Rica is Central America’s most innovative country, according to the 2017 Global Innovation Index.

In Latin America, only Chile in 46th position out-performed Costa Rica, which
fell seven positions, compared to last year’s ranking.

Panama, the runner-up in the region, gained five spots.

Nicaragua, which was in 116th place last year, was dropped out from the ranking, along with Bhutan, Ghana and Bolivia.

Globally, Switzerland is the most innovative country, while Yemen is last.

The index ranks innovation in 127 countries, based on 82 indicators, including education, institutional strength, and business sophistication (numbers in brackets indicate the global position of each country).


1           Costa Rica (53)

2           Panama (63)

3           Guatemala (98)

4           El Salvador (103)

5           Honduras (104)