Medical Tourism
Costa Rica has come a long way since its days of banana plantations and coffee. While both of these are still major exports and Costa Rican coffee is considered one of the best of the world, it is not the main source of income for this country anymore; tourism is now largely predominant and with it came medical tourism.
Costa Rica is now a top medical tourism destinations. The ministry of tourism recently announced that medical tourism accounted for 6 to 8% of the total of tourists who entered the country each year, including dentistry and plastic surgery.
A good education system has played a big role in this recent shift. Costa Rica enjoys a literacy rate of over 94% and it also has a very good health system that was ranked first in Latin America—above even that of the United States—by the World Health Organization, WHO.