Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Costa Rica, you would:
Health
be 75.0% less likely to be obese
In Costa Rica, 32.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.
be 23.8% less likely to die by suicide
Costa Rica has a suicide rate of 8.1 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.
be 2.3 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Costa Rica, 0.6% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.4% of people as of 2024.
live 19.0 years less
In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 81 years (78 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2024.
see 91.8% less spent on your healthcare
Costa Rica spends $1,928 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.
have 95.0% fewer doctors per person
Costa Rica has 26.9 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.
have 49.4% less access to essential health services
Costa Rica scores 81 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.
Economy
be 53.9% less likely to be unemployed
In Costa Rica, 6.8% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.
make 95.8% less money
Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $19,970 as of 2025, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.
Life
have 3.0 times more children
In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 14.8 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Costa Rica, approximately 24.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, 354.0 women do as of 2023.
be 50.4% less likely to be literate
In Costa Rica, the literacy rate is 98.0% as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.
be 6.0 times more likely to die during infancy
In Costa Rica, approximately 9.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 54.6 children do as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 64.5% less likely to have access to electricity
In Costa Rica, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 36% of people on average (56% in urban areas, and 19% in rural areas) as of 2023.
be 71.2% less likely to have internet access
In Costa Rica, approximately 87.2% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.
be 31.8% less likely to have access to drinking water
In Costa Rica, approximately 100% of people have access to drinking water (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 68% of people on average (82% in urban areas, and 57% in rural areas) as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 50.7% less on education
Costa Rica spends 5.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 31.3% less on healthcare
Costa Rica spends 6.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 68.8% less coastline
Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.
Safety
be 87.5% less likely to be murdered
Costa Rica has a homicide rate of 17.8 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 2.2 per 100,000 as of 2020.
be 11.0% less likely to die in a road accident
In Costa Rica, road accidents kill 15.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 91.5% less strain on fresh water
Costa Rica withdraws 6% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sierra Leone withdraws 0% as of 2022.
Environment
emit 89.6% less CO2
Costa Rica emits 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.
be 6.5 times more likely to die from air pollution
In Costa Rica, air pollution causes 15.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, it causes 97.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2020–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this
Compare further: Costa Rica vs. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: At a glance
How big is Sierra Leone compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.