
January 8th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) Green mountains, beautiful volcanoes, an internationally recognized culture of peace and blue oceans, placed Costa Rica as the number 5 retirement haven in International Living’s rankings of the best places to retire in 2013.
In a ranking of 22 countries, the study analyzed the characteristics of each country for soon-to-be retirees. Ecuador topped the list, followed by Panama, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica.
The countries of Uruguay, Colombia, Spain, Thailand, and Malta follow the first five.
Costa Rica received a score of 84.4, while Ecuador, in first place, received a 91.9 score.
Factors considered were real estate, special retirement benefits, cost of living, ease of integration, entertainment and amenities, health care, retirement infrastructure and climate.
Read the full story on the top 5 retirement havens here.
Here are the rankings, according to International Living:
| Country | Real Estate | Special Benefits | Cost of Living | Integration | E&A | Health | Ret. Infra | Climate | FINAL SCORES |
| 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 |
*E&A = Entertainment and Amenities;
Ret. Infra. = Retirement Infrastructure