Chile 🇨🇱 & Costa Rica 🇨🇷 lead the first Latin America Prosperity Rating prepared by the Swiss business school IMD. Panama 🇵🇦 is in the 2nd top tier together with Uruguay 🇺🇾. Worst performers are Honduras & Venezuela
This IMD Latin America & Caribbean Prosperity Rating 2026 📊, published April 2026, measures prosperity across 4 pillars – Economics, Governance & Institutions, Business Environment (Managerial Dynamics), and Social Development (so, much more than just GDP) – using 78 indicators. The 34 evaluated LAC economies are then grouped into eight performance tiers from A1 (highest) to D2 (lowest). Below chart shows the top LATAM performers.
Chile scores highest on Social Development, accompanied by high scores on Business Environment and Governance & Institutions. Costa Rica’s highest performance areas are Social Development & Governance & Institutions.
Panama 🇵🇦
Panama’s prosperity performance is largely supported by its high income levels and extensive trade integration, reflecting its position as a regional hub for logistics and services.
Panama scores highest on Economics with also strong performance in Governance & Institutions & Social Development. The report identifies Panama as an example of “rising income without social inclusion” The country’s income level and institutional advantages do not fully translate into broad-based prosperity for the population.
Prosperity Across the Region is Uneven
Prosperity across the region is uneven, with countries represented at every tier of the index. Differences in performance cannot be attributed to economic strength alone. Panama and Uruguay record relatively high income levels, while Brazil and Argentina have similar income profiles but are absent from the highest tiers.
The report identifies that shortcomings in “Managerial Dynamics” as a key constraint on competitiveness across the region. Managerial Dynamics covers several factors central to economic performance, including productivity growth, financial depth, business dynamism and innovation capacity.
“If China ends up shifting production chains to Latin America in a bid to mitigate the effects of US tariffs, the manufacturing opportunities will be real and substantial. But without the right conditions in place, the region risks missing the moment entirely,” said Jose Caballero , Senior Economist at IMD WCC and lead author of the report.
Full insightful IMD Latin America & the Caribbean Prosperity Rating Report
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