If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Brunei, you would:

Health

see 63.7% less spent on your healthcare

Brunei spends $1,896 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Nicaragua spends $689 as of 2023.

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have 63.8% fewer doctors per person

Brunei has 18.9 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2021. Nicaragua has 6.8 as of 2018.

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have 10.3% less access to essential health services

Brunei scores 78 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Nicaragua scores 70 as of 2021.

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be 39.0% more likely to die by suicide

Brunei has a suicide rate of 3.0 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Nicaragua, it is 4.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

make 90.2% less money

Brunei has a GDP per capita of $32,235 as of 2025, while in Nicaragua, the GDP per capita is $3,173 as of 2025.

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Life

have 43.6% more children

In Brunei, there are approximately 13.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Nicaragua, there are 19.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 66.7% more likely to die during childbirth

In Brunei, approximately 36.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Nicaragua, 60.0 women do as of 2023.

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Basic Needs

be 11.7% less likely to have access to electricity

In Brunei, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Nicaragua, that number is 88% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 71% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 36.2% less likely to have internet access

In Brunei, approximately 96.3% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Nicaragua, about 61.4% do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 3.7 times more on healthcare

Brunei spends 2.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Nicaragua, that number is 8.3% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 5.7 times more coastline

Brunei has a total of 161 km of coastline. In Nicaragua, that number is 910 km.

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Safety

be 3.8 times more likely to die in a road accident

In Brunei, road accidents kill 3.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Nicaragua, they kill 13.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

live with 36.0% less strain on fresh water

Brunei withdraws 3% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Nicaragua withdraws 2% as of 2022.

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find 72.7% less home broadband

Brunei has 21.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Nicaragua has 5.8 as of 2024.

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use 94.0% less electricity

Brunei uses 10,674 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Nicaragua uses 641 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

emit 95.9% less CO2

Brunei emits 20.2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Nicaragua emits 0.8 tonnes as of 2024.

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be 90.0% more likely to die from air pollution

In Brunei, air pollution causes 20.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Nicaragua, it causes 38.0 as of 2019.

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Sources: World Bank (2018–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Nicaragua: At a glance

Nicaragua is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 119,990 sq km. The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra was elected president in 2006 and reelected in 2011. The 2008 municipal elections, 2010 regional elections, 2011 presidential elections, 2012 municipal elections, and 2013 regional elections were marred by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions have been weakened under the ORTEGA administration.
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