QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica has improved its business environment and is now a less complicated country in which to do business and attract foreign direct investment, according to the TMF Group ranking.
The country moved from 51st to 58th. According to the methodology, the higher the ranking, the lower the business complexity.
“The decline in the index is an encouraging sign of Costa Rica’s commitment to constantly improving its business environment. We have seen significant progress thanks to infrastructure modernization and government measures that facilitate the operation of foreign companies, strengthening the confidence of investors and trading partners. Continued investment in strategic corridors, the existence and promotion of energy from renewable sources, and free trade zones are driving market diversification,” said Adrián Owen, Director of TMF Group for Central America.
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In the region, Costa Rica is only surpassed by Honduras, which is ranked 66th out of 79 countries analyzed.
In this regard, the most complex country to do business in is Greece, while the friendliest for foreign investment is the Cayman Islands.
The Challenges
Despite the good news, Costa Rica faces a series of challenges to maintain or improve its position as an ideal investment destination.
Among them are the appreciation of the colón, bureaucracy, and the human talent gap and competition in some sectors.
Another aspect affecting competitiveness is related to the quality of infrastructure.
“Although Costa Rica has two main ports, Moín in Limón and Caldera in Puntarenas, the Juan Santamaría (San Jose) Airport and the Guanacaste Airport, national highways, and the Inter-American Highway (Ruta 1 to the north and Ruta 2 to the south), there are challenges regarding their functionality for efficient mobilization, directly impacting local and international companies,” the report adds.
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Marco Vinicio Ruiz, former Minister of Foreign Trade, called on the PLN and its candidate Álvaro Ramos to reconsider their opinion regarding the 4×3 work shifts, an initiative to allow for 12-hour workdays, four days a week, in exchange for three days off. The proposal is currently being held up in the legislative process due to opposition from the Frente Amplio and the PLN legislators.
For Ruiz, the tariffs promoted by the United States and the call to repatriate foreign investment should improve Costa Rica’s competitiveness.
“There is a historical debt that transcends political affiliations. It’s been more than 25 years since I was in the Ministry, and we talked about the need for a regulatory framework that would protect companies and workers in productive activities that involve continuous and uninterrupted flows of work; that is, we are talking about extremely high-productivity companies that require 24/7 work, and the 4×3 overtime workday is ideal, both for the employer and the workers (…) We have seen how the PLN, or at least an important sector that has historically supported this project, has changed its mind, possibly for political reasons,” said Ruiz.
Human Talent
In an increasingly competitive environment marked by a shortage of specialized talent, companies in Costa Rica face a critical dilemma: while they enthusiastically embrace new technologies and artificial intelligence, many are still unclear about the skills they really need.
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This is the warning from Joscelyn Calderón Berrocal, Human Talent Manager at RSM Costa Rica, who points out that this disconnect exacerbates constant turnover and the lack of qualified human resources, especially in key sectors such as technology, healthcare, and financial services.
Between 2024 and the current year, Costa Rica made a significant leap in the Business Complexity Index, according to TMF Group (the higher the ranking, the lower its business complexity).
Among the Central American counties, the results are current (2025) compared to the 2024 rankings
- Honduras: 66 / 60
- Costa Rica 58 / 51
- Nicaragua 50 / 53
- El Salvador 46 / 50
- Guatemala 45 / 44
- Panamá 42 / 39
TMF Group is a professional services firm that publishes the Global Business Complexity Index (GBCI), which ranks countries based on the complexity of their business environment. The GBCI assesses various factors like legislation, compliance, accounting procedures, tax regimes, and HR processes.
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