Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Health

be 75.2% less likely to be obese

In Cook Islands, 72.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 17.9% of people as of 2024.

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have 28.3% more access to essential health services

Cook Islands scores 46 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sao Tome and Principe scores 59 as of 2021.

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live 7.2 years less

In Cook Islands, the average life expectancy is 77 years (74 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 70 years (66 years for men, 74 years for women) as of 2024.

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have 65.5% fewer doctors per person

Cook Islands has 13.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2019. Sao Tome and Principe has 4.6 as of 2022.

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Life

be 42.2% less likely to die during infancy

In Cook Islands, approximately 15.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Sao Tome and Principe, on the other hand, 9.2 children do as of 2024.

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have 2.3 times more children

In Cook Islands, there are approximately 12.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 80.3% more on healthcare

Cook Islands spends 3.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 5.8% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 74.2% more coastline

Cook Islands has a total of 120 km of coastline. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 209 km.

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Safety

be 33.5% less likely to die in a road accident

In Cook Islands, road accidents kill 17.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sao Tome and Principe, they kill 11.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 83.6% less home broadband

Cook Islands has 18.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Sao Tome and Principe has 3.0 as of 2024.

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Sources: The World Factbook (2020–2024), World Bank (2022–2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Sao Tome and Principe

Cost of Living Comparison · 5 categories - 2026 data
Sao Tome and Principe is 22.1% cheaper than Cook Islands overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Cook Islands is about 4.1 times smaller than Sao Tome and Principe.
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Moving from Cook Islands to Sao Tome and Principe · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Sao Tome and Principe: At a glance

Sao Tome and Principe is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 964 sq km. Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century - all grown with African plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and two failed coup attempts in 1995 and 2003. In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA. The new government of Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira DA COSTA is entirely composed of opposition party members with limited experience in governance. New oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea may attract increased attention to the small island nation.
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How big is Sao Tome and Principe compared to Cook Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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