The World Bank recently launched its 2016 Human Opportunities Index Report. Costa Rica is ranked as one of the best countries in Latin America. That is why this information can be useful to you, and something that Costa Ricans can be very proud of.
According to the new Human Opportunities Index, these days in Latin America and the Caribbean, access to education for children younger than 16 years old is practically universal. And these advances were particularly impressive in Latin American countries that were considered lagging at the start of the century. Costa Rica, for example, achieved a school enrollment rate of 97.4% in 2014, which was 4.8% higher than in 2004. We already know that Costa Rica’s literacy rate is even higher than that of the United States.
In the same period, countries in Latin America broadened the access to information and communication technologies. In particular, phone access technologies went from 13% in 2000 to more than 90% in 2014. On the contrary, in spite of the rapid growth of Internet access, accessibility to the Internet is still rather low. While Costa Rica has the highest rate of Internet access in Latin America with 49.6% and the second highest mobile phone coverage with 97.9%, some of its neighbors show a much lower rate.
When it comes to electricity, Costa Rica achieved 98.7% in the Index, only surpassed by Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, and then followed closely by Mexico with 98.6%. In regards to sanitation, Costa Rica is also ranked among the best countries in Latin American with 95.7%, only surpassed by Uruguay.
Costa Rica continues to improve in providing these necessary and essential services for its citizens, and has achieved noticeable improvements in the past few years. In the coming years, perhaps we can expect to see an even greater improvement in these areas of electricity, Internet access, and mobile connectivity.
