Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in New Caledonia instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Health

live 2.1 years less

In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 81 years (78 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2024. In New Caledonia, that number is 79 years (76 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Economy

make 46.3% more money

Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $19,970 as of 2025, while in New Caledonia, the GDP per capita is $29,213 as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 63.3% more likely to be unemployed

In Costa Rica, 6.8% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In New Caledonia, that number is 11.2% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Life

have 40.4% more children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In New Caledonia, there are 14.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Geography

see 74.7% more coastline

Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In New Caledonia, that number is 2,254 km.

View global rankings →

Infrastructure

find 16.8% less home broadband

Costa Rica has 23.3 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. New Caledonia has 19.4 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Environment

emit 10.5 times more CO2

Costa Rica emits 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. New Caledonia emits 17.1 tonnes as of 2024.

View global rankings →

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

Compare further: Costa Rica vs. New Caledonia

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
New Caledonia is 32.4% more expensive than Costa Rica overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Costa Rica is about 2.8 times bigger than New Caledonia.
→
Moving from Costa Rica to New Caledonia · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→

New Caledonia: At a glance

New Caledonia is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 18,275 sq km. Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island became a French possession in 1853. It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864. Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s ended in the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to conduct a referendum between 2014 and 2018 to decide whether New Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
Read more

How big is New Caledonia compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about New Caledonia or Costa Rica. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.