Question 1

What are the best cities to invest in Latin America in 2026?

Accepted Answer

According to the ProLatam Data Index 2026, which is built only from public sources, the top five Latin American cities for investment are: 1) San José, Costa Rica (53.8), 2) Buenos Aires, Argentina (53.6), 3) Panama City, Panama (51.0), 4) Santiago, Chile (50.8), 5) San Salvador, El Salvador (49.1). The index combines Economic Dynamism (International Monetary Fund), Rule of Law (World Justice Project), Safety (Numbeo), Quality of Life (Numbeo), Talent (INSEAD and Portulans Institute), Tax Competitiveness (PwC), English Proficiency (EF Education First), Infrastructure (World Bank) and Innovation (StartupBlink). FDI inflows and sovereign credit ratings are published alongside as context but are not scored. Pro Latam also publishes a second weighting of the same pillars, the ProLatam Score, tuned for foreigners who move to, invest in or open a business in the region; its top three are Buenos Aires (51.1), San José (50.5) and Santiago (49.9).

Question 2

How are Latin American cities ranked for investment?

Accepted Answer

Each city receives a ProLatam Data Index from 0 to 100 using nine weighted pillars: Economic Dynamism (15%, International Monetary Fund), Rule of Law (15%, World Justice Project), Safety (8%, Numbeo), Quality of Life (7%, Numbeo), Talent (13%, INSEAD and Portulans Institute), Tax Competitiveness (13%, PwC), English Proficiency (9%, EF Education First), Infrastructure (10%, World Bank) and Innovation (10%, StartupBlink). Every indicator is normalized to a 0 to 100 scale using fixed, published rules, and the weights sum to 100. When a source does not cover a city, that pillar's weight is redistributed and the coverage is shown. National indicators (IMF, WJP, INSEAD, World Bank, PwC) apply to every city in that country; Numbeo safety, EF English proficiency and StartupBlink rank are city-level. Source editions are listed next to each figure.

Question 3

Which Latin American economies are growing fastest?

Accepted Answer

Based on IMF World Economic Outlook projections for 2026, the fastest-growing economies among the tracked cities are Panama (+3.8%, Panama City), Costa Rica (+3.6%, San José) and Argentina (+3.5%, Buenos Aires). Growth is a national figure and only one of nine pillars in the Data Index; a fast-growing economy can still rank lower on rule of law, safety or tax competitiveness.

Question 4

Which Latin American countries are most tax friendly for foreign investors?

Accepted Answer

Measured on what a foreign shareholder actually keeps, that is corporate income tax plus the standard non-treaty withholding on dividends, the lightest burdens are Panama (32.5%), Peru (33.0%), El Salvador (33.5%) and Venezuela (34.0%). Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador also tax on a territorial basis, so income earned outside the country is not taxed at all, which matters for holding and regional headquarters structures. Headline rates mislead in both directions: Chile advertises 27% but a non-treaty shareholder bears 44.45% because only part of the corporate tax is creditable, while Panama's low rate comes with 408 compliance hours a year. The Tax Competitiveness pillar therefore weighs the real burden on repatriated profit at 70% and compliance time at 30%.

Question 5

Is it safe to do business in Latin America?

Accepted Answer

Safety and legal certainty vary widely by city and country. On the Numbeo Safety Index the safest tracked cities are Querétaro (63/100), Panama City (54/100) and Monterrey (52/100), and the strongest rule-of-law environments in the World Justice Project index are Costa Rica, Chile and Argentina. The ProLatam Investment Hub shows both indicators for all 13 cities so investors can compare conditions before deploying capital, and Pro Latam connects companies with verified local partners for market entry.

Investing in Buenos Aires

How Buenos Aires scores on each pillar

What a foreign shareholder pays in Argentina

Context, published but not scored

Where Argentina has moved since 2021

Sectors with a documented presence

Knowledge Economy

Technology Districts

Where Argentina's inbound FDI comes from

Citing the Buenos Aires figures

Considering Buenos Aires for a market entry?

Pillar	Score	Reported value	Data Index	ProLatam	Source
Economic Dynamism	74.4	+4.0% avg 2025 to 2026	15%	6%	International Monetary FundApril 2026 · national
Rule of Law	54.0	0.54	15%	15%	World Justice Project2025 · national
Safety	37.1	37.1	8%	9%	Numbeoretrieved September 2026 · city
Quality of Life	48.3	117.9	7%	8%	Numbeo2026 Mid-Year · city
Talent	47.6	47.6	13%	15%	INSEAD and Portulans Institute2025 · national
Tax Competitiveness	52.1	39.6% on repatriated profit	13%	15%	PwCreviewed 2026 · national
English Proficiency	77.6	594 (High)	9%	10%	EF Education First2025 (15th edition) · city
Infrastructure	45.0	2.80 / 5	10%	9%	World Bank2023 · national
Innovation	35.5	#86 global	10%	13%	StartupBlink2025 · city