Head to head · verified July 2026
Costa Rica vs Panama
Panama scores 9 points higher on our balanced view — but that gap is small enough that your own priorities can flip it. The breakdowns below show exactly where each one earns and loses.
Costa Rica
Central America
Costa Rica pairs Panama's playbook — a $1,000/mo Pensionado and territorial tax — with lusher hills and a three-year run to permanent residency. Two honest catches: every resident pays the CCSS health levy, about 9–11% of declared pension, and processing has been running 8–14 months. The Ministry of Health accredits care establishments under Ley 7935 — CONAPAM is the council, not the licensor; no public accredited list was opened. Pura vida is real; so is the paperwork queue.
Full Costa Rica guide
Panama
Central America
Panama is the rare place where the paperwork is the easy part. The Pensionado visa needs just $1,000 a month of pension income, hands you permanent residency almost immediately, and the territorial tax system means your foreign income simply isn't Panama's business. Elder-protection law and MIDES licensing are named in search results; official pages did not open cleanly this round, so Panama stays unchecked — no facility register filed. You spend US dollars, you can own property freehold — the trade-off is distance, and local banking will test your patience.
Full Panama guideSide by side
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Showing the open fields. 17 more criteria — tax-residency day counts, capital gains, forced heirship, setup costs and processing times — need a free Thon account. Sign in to see the full table.
Why Costa Rica scores 68
Why this number
Every point is accounted for. Nothing is hidden in a weighting you cannot see.
- Base country quality77Costa Rica scores 77/100 before anything about you is applied — visa system, tax regime, healthcare, safety and property rights.
- Australian passport-9Worse than average for Australian retirees: 34h from Sydney + CCSS levy + backlog
- Best fit for you68A decision aid, not a prediction. Two people with the same passport can rank these differently — that is the point of showing the working.
- No double-tax treaty — Costa Rica has no tax treaty in force with Australia — the same income can be taxed twice unless you structure around it.
Why Panama scores 77
Why this number
Every point is accounted for. Nothing is hidden in a weighting you cannot see.
- Base country quality87Panama scores 87/100 before anything about you is applied — visa system, tax regime, healthcare, safety and property rights.
- Australian passport-10Worse than average for Australian retirees: ~30h from Sydney — brutal for grandkid visits
- Best fit for you77A decision aid, not a prediction. Two people with the same passport can rank these differently — that is the point of showing the working.
- No double-tax treaty — Panama has no tax treaty in force with Australia — the same income can be taxed twice unless you structure around it.