International Living (IL) just released their 2024 list of the top places to retire. Colombia comes in at No 10 which isn't bad. Several years ago, Colombia got up to No 4.
Every year, I have the same problems with IL.
First of all, I think their owners are bias towards Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador. They have an affinity for Portugal now too. The owners live in Ecuador and Mexico. They also conduct extremely profitable seminars in these countries.
I have lived in Colombia for 18 years very happily so I am biased. So let me be fair from the start. You really need to speak some Spanish. Very little English here. There is a lot of poverty and many areas where the security situation has declined in the last couple years. Again, we are hearing of some kidnappings and abuse by a few bad apples overcharging foreigners. There are areas in every city (just like in the US and everywhere in the world) where you do not go.
I am surprised IL continues to rank Mexico so high with the crime situation there and drug related murders.
But let's focus on things easier to prove. I have problems with the scoring but more significant is they fail to weight the different categories. They just add them all up and get a simple average. Well, that is not the real world because cost of living, healthcare and housing are by far the most important considerations for retirees. Safety is very high on the list too.
Cost of Living: Colombia has a cost of living score of 98 which is great. Compare that to Costa Rica (76), Portugal (79), Mexico (84) and Spain (75).
This is supported by numbeo.com which assigns a cost of living index (COLI) to all countries so you can compare apples to apples. The lower the COLI, the better. For example, a basket of groceries which costs $27.60 in Colombia would cost $53.00 in Costa Rica for the exact same basket of groceries. Almost double ! And if you have been to Costa Rica, you know. It is expensive and it gets worse during the high season from Dec 15 to April 1.
- Colombia. 27.6
- Ecuador 34.2
- Mexico. 42.4
- Portugal. 46.1
- Panama. 48.1
- Spain. 49.9
- Costa Rica. 53.0
If you are living on just your Social Security, what could be more important than the cost of living ???
If cost of living is your most important issue, then Colombia needs to be No 1 on you list...case closed. And the quality of life and standard of living are both wonderful.
Housing: All of the housing scores are in the 60 to 70´s so doesn't have much effect on the overall ranking but this is a huge error. Housing in Costa Rica and Panama is very expensive and the quality of construction especially in Costa Rica is awful. Go check out the new apartments in Medellin, Manizales, Pereira and Cartagena. They are fabulous with amazing amenities. Colombia should have scored much higher.
Visas: Go do a comparison. Colombia has THE easiest, lowest cost Retiree, Digital Nomad and Investor visas in the world. IL gives significantly higher scores to Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama.
Healthcare: The other category which is arguably No 1 for retirees is healthcare because Medicare does not cover them outside the US. Again, let's look at independent studies. América Economía every year ranks the top hospitals in Latin America. Colombia consistently has 20+ hospitals in the Top 60 or so and 5 in the Top 10. No other country in Latin America comes close.
Colombia has 30+ hospitals located throughout the country which are internationally accredited by ICONTEC which is accredited by ISQua, the international accrediting organization recommended by the American Medical Association (AMA). Colombia also has 5 hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission International, the other accrediting organization recommended by the AMA.
And it's not just big emergencies. Colombia has wonderful modern clinics for anything that ails ya. Great dental much cheaper than Costa Rica which has become spoiled by high medical tourists. Plastic surgery is much cheaper and better in Colombia too. Because Colombia is a social medicine country with its EPS system, all healthcare is about 1/3rd the cost in the US and no wait times.
Climate: I lived in Costa Rica twice for 6 months each time. The cost of living was horrendous (compared to Colombia where I was living at the time) but the worse part was the insufferable heat. I was living both times on the cost near Manuel Antonio and Jaco. The beaches are great but the heat and humidity were unbearable...and I'm born and raised in Florida !
The climate in Colombia really depends where you are. Medellin, Pereira, Manizales, Bucaramanga and many other cities have lovely year round temperatures. I'll admit Manizales and Bogota can be a bit chilly and rainy. Cartagena and Santa Marta are blazing hot but I've spent quite a bit of time on the coast and you get used to it if you wear proper clothing and protection. There's no getting used to the heat and humidity in Costa Rica. Even the locals were always dripping with sweat.