If you plan to live or retire in Costa Rica you have chosen a healthy country with excellent medical care. In previous articles I talked about the country’s “Blue Zones” where many centenarians reside. I also alluded to the fact that if you are a Costa Rican and reach eighty years of age you have the longest longevity rate in the world thereafter.

In today’s la Nación newspaper there was an article that said Costa Ricans also have the least chance of dying before 60 years of age than people who live in other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study attributes this to the country’s excellent “cradle to grave” health care system and the absence of internal and external conflicts (wars). The study appeared in the publication The Lancet which is financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The study covered 187 countries and Costa Rica was first in Latin America and 32 in the entire world. Chile was in second place in this report. This study came to the same conclusions as previous work by the World Bank.

So, if you are interested in living or retiring in a country with a great climate and healthy people, then Costa Rica is the obvious choice. Who know? If you adopt the healthy Costa Rican lifestyle you can probably “add years to your life.” I can guarantee you that you will add “life to your years” because of the fantastic lifestyle.