Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Barbados instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Health

be 10.1% less likely to be obese

In Costa Rica, 25.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Barbados, that number is 23.1% of people as of 2016.

be 2.8 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Costa Rica, 0.4% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Barbados, that number is 1.1% of people as of 2019.

live 1.1 years less

In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Barbados, that number is 79 years (76 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 34.5% less money

Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $19,700 as of 2020, while in Barbados, the GDP per capita is $12,900 as of 2020.

be 24.7% more likely to be unemployed

In Costa Rica, 8.1% of adults are unemployed as of 2017. In Barbados, that number is 10.1% as of 2017.

pay a 2.2 times higher top tax rate

Costa Rica has a top tax rate of 15.0% as of 2016. In Barbados, the top tax rate is 33.5% as of 2016.

Life

be 14.4% more likely to die during infancy

In Costa Rica, approximately 8.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Barbados, on the other hand, 9.6 children do as of 2020.

have 24.2% fewer children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Barbados, there are 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 35.8% less on education

Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Barbados spends 4.3% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 13.7% less on healthcare

Costa Rica spends 7.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Barbados, that number is 6.3% of GDP as of 2019.

Geography

see 92.5% less coastline

Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In Barbados, that number is 97 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry of Finance, Barbados, Directorate General of Taxation of Costa Rica.

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 Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.

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