Once Again Costa Rica is selected as the happiest country in Latin America

According to the yearly World Report on Happiness, Costa Rica is ranked number 23. Finland was chosen as the happiest country followed by Denmark and Iceland. To nobody’s surprise Afganistan was at the very bottom of the list (the Taliban take over in 2020).

By the way, Canada is is ranked 13th and the U.S. 15th respectively.

In the Latin America happiness ranking, Costa Rica is followed by Uruguary (28), Chile (35), Mexico (36) and Panama (38).

A number of factors were taken into account by researchers to determine the ranking of each country: Longevity rate, freedom, and more.

Although Costa Rica was ranked number one in Latin America, like most nations in Latin America this country of 5 million people does have its issues: 400,000 households living in poverty, almost 300,000 unemployed, an increase of chronic diseases and crime. Regarding the latter, I would not be living here if I thought that it was too dangerous.

It must be pointed out that in terms of positive outlook of its people, Costa Rica was near the top of the list.

Perhaps one factor that explains the country’s overall rating is its resiliency, that is to say, the people’s ability to adapt to adverse situations and to even overcome them. There is a good reason to believe that this explains the pura vida philosophy of life of the Costa Rican people.

For some of the reasons mentioned above, Costa Rica has always been a country where foreigners choose to relocate. As we say, “Sólo bueno” (only good), which is Costa Rica’s unofficial national motto after pura vida.