QCOSTARICA – Despite the daily traffic congestion, failing infrastructure, corruption, politicians unwilling to do better, etc. and the rainy season, Costa Rica is among the happiest people in the planet and on what matters most: doing a good job at assuring a high quality of life for ordinary citizens.
The Social Progress Index for 2015 ranks the Costa Rica 28th in the world and tops in Central America.
In the Basic Human Needs Dimension, Costa Rica performs best on Nutrition and Basic Medical Care and has most opportunity to improve on the Personal Safety component. In the Foundations of Wellbeing Dimension, Costa Rica scores highest on Access to Basic Knowledge but lags on the Ecosystem Sustainability component.
In the Opportunity Dimension, Costa Rica is strongest on Personal Rights and has the most room to improve on Access to Advanced Education.
Central America countries rankings in the 2015 Social Progress Index.
28. Costa Rica
41. Panama
58. El Salvador
78. Nicaragua
79. Guatemala
82. Honduras
Top 10 Countries Rankings in the 2015 Social Progress Index.
1. Norway
2. Sweden
3. Switzerland
4. Iceland
5. New Zealand
6. Canada
7. Finland
8. Denmark
9. Netherlands
10. Australia
The Social Progress Index offers a rich framework for measuring the multiple dimensions of social progress, benchmarking success, and catalyzing greater human wellbeing.
The 2015 version of the Social Progress Index has improved upon the 2014 version through generous feedback from many observers and covers an expanded number of countries with 52 indicators.