Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Barbados instead of Aruba, you would:

Economy

make 26.5% less money

Aruba has a GDP per capita of $38,591 as of 2024, while in Barbados, the GDP per capita is $28,365 as of 2025.

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Life

be 24.7% less likely to die during infancy

In Aruba, approximately 12.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Barbados, on the other hand, 9.1 children do as of 2024.

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have 46.5% more children

In Aruba, there are approximately 7.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Barbados, there are 11.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 27.5% less likely to have internet access

In Aruba, approximately 97.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Barbados, about 70.4% do as of 2024.

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Geography

see 41.6% more coastline

Aruba has a total of 68 km of coastline. In Barbados, that number is 97 km.

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Infrastructure

find 2.1 times more home broadband

Aruba has 17.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Barbados has 37.5 as of 2022.

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Environment

emit 51.1% less CO2

Aruba emits 5.2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Barbados emits 2.5 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), The World Factbook (2021–2022). How we calculate this

Compare further: Aruba vs. Barbados

Cost of Living Comparison · 6 categories - 2026 data
Barbados is 4.3% cheaper than Aruba overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Aruba is about 2.4 times smaller than Barbados.
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Moving from Aruba to Barbados · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Barbados: At a glance

Barbados is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 430 sq km. The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. African slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.
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How big is Barbados compared to Aruba? See an in-depth size comparison.

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