Quality of life comparison
If you lived in South Korea instead of Costa Rica, you would:
Health
live 3.3 years longer
In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In South Korea, that number is 83 years (80 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022.
be 81.7% less likely to be obese
In Costa Rica, 25.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In South Korea, that number is 4.7% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 2.1 times more money
Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $19,700 as of 2020, while in South Korea, the GDP per capita is $42,300 as of 2020.
be 53.6% less likely to be unemployed
In Costa Rica, 8.1% of adults are unemployed as of 2017. In South Korea, that number is 3.8% as of 2019.
be 31.4% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Costa Rica, 21.0% live below the poverty line as of 2019. In South Korea, however, that number is 14.4% as of 2016.
pay a 2.5 times higher top tax rate
Costa Rica has a top tax rate of 15.0% as of 2016. In South Korea, the top tax rate is 38.0% as of 2016.
Life
be 59.3% less likely to die during childbirth
In Costa Rica, approximately 27.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In South Korea, 11.0 women do as of 2017.
be 65.8% less 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 South Korea, on the other hand, 2.9 children do as of 2022.
have 51.5% fewer children
In Costa Rica, there are approximately 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In South Korea, there are 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 19.8% more likely to have internet access
In Costa Rica, approximately 81.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In South Korea, about 97.0% do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 32.8% less on education
Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. South Korea spends 4.5% of total GDP on education as of 2018.
spend 12.3% more on healthcare
Costa Rica spends 7.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In South Korea, that number is 8.2% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 87.1% more coastline
Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In South Korea, that number is 2,413 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, National Tax Service, South Korea, Directorate General of Taxation of Costa Rica.
South Korea: At a glance
How big is South Korea compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.