Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Belize, you would:
Health
be 66.7% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Belize, 1.2% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Costa Rica, that number is 0.4% of people as of 2020.
live 3.8 years longer
In Belize, the average life expectancy is 76 years (74 years for men, 78 years for women) as of 2022. In Costa Rica, that number is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
make 3.2 times more money
Belize has a GDP per capita of $6,100 as of 2020, while in Costa Rica, the GDP per capita is $19,700 as of 2020.
be 10.0% less likely to be unemployed
In Belize, 9.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2017. In Costa Rica, that number is 8.1% as of 2017.
be 48.8% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Belize, 41.0% live below the poverty line as of 2013. In Costa Rica, however, that number is 21.0% as of 2019.
Life
be 25.0% less likely to die during childbirth
In Belize, approximately 36.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Costa Rica, 27.0 women do as of 2017.
be 24.8% less likely to die during infancy
In Belize, approximately 11.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Costa Rica, on the other hand, 8.4 children do as of 2022.
have 32.9% fewer children
In Belize, there are approximately 21.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Costa Rica, there are 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 58.8% more likely to have internet access
In Belize, approximately 51.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Costa Rica, about 81.0% do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 15.2% less on education
Belize spends 7.9% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Costa Rica spends 6.7% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
spend 21.7% more on healthcare
Belize spends 6.0% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Costa Rica, that number is 7.3% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 3.3 times more coastline
Belize has a total of 386 km of coastline. In Costa Rica, that number is 1,290 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
Costa Rica: At a glance
How big is Costa Rica compared to Belize? See an in-depth size comparison.