Costa Rica ranked fifth favorite country for U.S., Canadian retirees : The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel

A study carried out by expat-focused “International Living” magazine shows Costa Rica is among the top five destinations for U.S. and Canada retirees.

Its “Annual Retirement Index 2013” listed the 22 best places to retire. Editors analyzed data and information from correspondents in the countries most popular with U.S. and Canadian retirees to compile the results, which were based on a host of categories: cost of living, climate, property prices, healthcare, ease of integration, retirement infrastructure, entertainment and amenities and special benefits for retirees.

In the country’s analysis the magazine summarizes Costa Rica’s position as a result of comfort and community.

The report cites testimonies from expats who claim that “Costa Rica’s universal healthcare system (which provides world top class -and cheap- services), the nation’s stability, the proximity with the U.S., great climate conditions as well as an active expat community” are some of the main reasons to enjoy living here.

Ecuador tops the list followed by Panama, Malaysia and Mexico. Other region’s countries that made list were Nicaragua, which ranked 12, Honduras 20 and Belize 21.

Annual Retirement Index 2013

Country	Real Estate	Special Benefits	C.L.	Integ.	E&A	Health	Ret. Inf.	Climate	FINAL SCORE
Ecuador	99	99	90	90	95	83	79	100	91.9
Panama	83	100	86	93	95	85	81	88	89.0
Malaysia	89	77	92	90	100	93	85	75	87.6
Mexico	92	71	82	100	100	84	74	78	85.1
Costa Rica	89	85	87	90	94	86	73	71	84.4
Uruguay	87	72	69	83	94	91	82	92	83.7
Colombia	94	75	70	90	82	84	83	86	83.0
Spain	87	57	80	83	96	80	93	83	82.5
Thailand	82	57	97	87	96	81	77	81	82.3
Malta	87	82	71	100	68	82	77	75	80.1
Portugal	75	69	86	67	81	82	95	85	80.1
Nicaragua	94	63	89	90	77	83	68	73	79.7
Ireland	78	79	67	97	84	73	85	73	79.5
France	72	82	57	64	100	89	87	85	79.5
Philippines	78	57	100	87	79	83	84	69	79.5
New Zealand	82	74	57	90	88	71	86	87	79.3
Italy	76	77	66	74	98	70	89	83	79.0
Brazil	80	70	80	60	76	84	69	85	75.5
Chile	85	69	81	57	88	78	83	57	74.8
Honduras	76	85	80	87	64	76	67	62	74.6
Belize	78	72	85	83	57	79	66	64	73.2
Dom. Rep	91	63	70	64	74	68	75	64	71.0