Costa Rica: 2005 - A Country Survey by GolfitoProperties.com

Costa Rica: a global leader in Human Development

Costa Rica has gained international recognition as a country in the process of rapid development.

As one of Central America's most prosperous, robust and advanced societies at the beginning of the third millennium, Costa Rica has gained recognition by several international bodies for recent advancements.

Costa Rica is ranked in the top 24% internationally for human development.

According to United Nations Development Programme statistics, Costa Rica is ranked 42 out of 175 nations in terms of overall human development. This puts Costa Rica in the top 24% worldwide, above such notable nations as Chile (#43), Mexico (#55), Panama (#59), Nicaragua (#121) and Sierra Leone (#175) but below Norway (#1), the United States (#7), Germany (#18) and Spain (#19).

Costa Rica's people have a long Life Expectancy.

According to UNDP sources cited in the annual State of the Nation report , the average Costa Rican born in 2001 can expect to live 77.9 years, This life expectancy actually exceeds that of more developed nations such as the United States (76.9 years), Denmark (76.4 years), Ireland (76.7 years) and Finland (77.8 years)!

Costa Rica boasts a highly Productive Workforce.

In terms of annual per-capita Gross National Product, Costa Ricans, at $9,460 per person, out produce workers in Mexico ($8,430), Brazil ($7,360), and bottom rung Sierra Leone ($470), but fall behind workers in Luxemburg ($53,780), the United States ($34,320) and Israel ($19,790).

Costa Rica brings Youth full Demographics to the world marketplace.

An estimated 64.5% of Costa Rica's total population of 4,089,609 in 2004 were under the age of 34 years old, making Costa Rica one of the most youth full nations in the world. (Source: US Bureau of the Census, International Data Base)

Costa Rica has a high Adult Literacy Rate.

According to a recent (2002) survey by UNICEF , 96% of all Costa Ricans can read and write. This positions Costa Rica as one of the most literate nations in Latin America, and close to that of many industrialized countries in the world.

Costa Rica's U5MR are among the lowest in the world.

Based on 1998 Under-Five Mortality Rates (U5MR) for over 194 countries included in their study , The State of the World's Children, UNICEF ranked Costa Rica as lower than 146 other countries in terms of child mortality rates. This ranking effectively places Costa Rica's quality of pediatric health care in the upper 24% worldwide, and surpasses the rankings of such notables as Panama, Mexico, China, and India.

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