Number one in democracy and health care: Costa Rica

A healthy democracy and an effective health-care system had the effect of making Costa Rica the champion of Central America, when it comes to quality of life, according to the "Best country in the world" ranking, published last week by Newsweek magazine.

Costa Rica came 35th on the global list.

The rating considered five aspects: level of education, quality of health care, political freedom, economic development, and general quality of life.

Costa Rica in fact placed not far below Chile, the leader in Latin America, in 30th position.

The overall winners were Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.


The figures represent the position in the world ranking of each country in the region.

1. Costa Rica (35)
2. Panama (41)
3. El Salvador (72)
4. Nicaragua (75)
5. Honduras (76)
6. Guatemala (84)