Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Health

be 84.5% less likely to be obese

In Cook Islands, 72.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, that number is 11.2% of people as of 2024.

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have 45.7% more access to essential health services

Cook Islands scores 46 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sri Lanka scores 67 as of 2021.

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Life

be 67.4% 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 Sri Lanka, on the other hand, 5.2 children do as of 2024.

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have 16.5% fewer children

In Cook Islands, there are approximately 12.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, there are 10.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 15.8% less likely to have internet access

In Cook Islands, approximately 64.8% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Sri Lanka, about 54.6% do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 60.2% less on education

Cook Islands spends 4.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Sri Lanka spends 1.8% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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spend 15.0% more on healthcare

Cook Islands spends 3.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Sri Lanka, that number is 3.7% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 11.2 times more coastline

Cook Islands has a total of 120 km of coastline. In Sri Lanka, that number is 1,340 km.

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Safety

be 34.7% less likely to die in a road accident

In Cook Islands, road accidents kill 17.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sri Lanka, they kill 11.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 53.5% less home broadband

Cook Islands has 18.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Sri Lanka has 8.5 as of 2024.

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Sources: The World Factbook (2020–2024), World Bank (2023–2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Sri Lanka

Cost of Living Comparison · 5 categories - 2026 data
Sri Lanka is 49.1% cheaper than Cook Islands overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Cook Islands is about 278 times smaller than Sri Lanka.
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Moving from Cook Islands to Sri Lanka · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Sri Lanka: At a glance

Sri Lanka is a sovereign country in South Asia, with a total land area of approximately 64,630 sq km. The first Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa A.D. 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty established a Tamil kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. The coastal areas of the island were controlled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century. The island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was formally united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formalized a cease-fire in February 2002 with Norway brokering peace negotiations. Violence between the LTTE and government forces intensified in 2006, but the government regained control of the Eastern Province in 2007. By May 2009, the government announced that its military had defeated the remnants of the LTTE. Since the end of the conflict, the government has enacted an ambitious program of economic development projects, many of which are financed by loans from the Government of China. In addition to efforts to reconstruct its economy, the government has resettled more than 95% of those civilians who were displaced during the final phase of the conflict and released the vast majority of former LTTE combatants captured by Government Security Forces. At the same time, there has been little progress on more contentious and politically difficult issues such as reaching a political settlement with Tamil elected representatives and holding accountable those alleged to have been involved in human rights violations and other abuses during the conflict.
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How big is Sri Lanka compared to Cook Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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