The School of Economics of the University of Costa Rica published the County Competitiveness Index (ICC), which, as the report states, is the result of an investigation of seven indicators, economic activity, government, infrastructure, business climate, work climate, innovation as well as the quality of life of the 81 counties of Costa Rica during 11 consecutive years (2006-2016); this index allows to monitor the evolution of each county according to its particular competitive profile and in relation to the rest of the counties.

According to this report, which was developed by the School of Economics of the UCR and the Development Observatory , the county with the best quality of life is Nandayure in Guanacaste, followed closely by Hojanchan and Tilarán also in Guanacaste; while the one with the best infrastructure is the central county of San José.

The objective of the ICC is to promote in the corresponding authorities (municipalities for example) the questioning and establishment of priorities to identify possible solutions that allows them to boost the development of each territory.

In general San José takes the first position in the ranking, followed by Belén, Escazú, Montes de Oca, Curridabat, Heredia, Santa Ana, Alajuela, Cartago and Santo Domingo rounding out the top 10. While the 5 counties in the bottom of the ranking are Talamanca, Sarapiquí, Upala, Buenos Aires and Guatuso in last place.