Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Barbados instead of Panama, you would:
Health
have 82.0% more doctors per person
Panama has 16.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Barbados has 29.6 as of 2022.
live 3.5 years less
In Panama, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2024. In Barbados, that number is 76 years (74 years for men, 79 years for women) as of 2024.
see 65.2% less spent on your healthcare
Panama spends $3,318 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Barbados spends $1,153 as of 2023.
Economy
be 22.0% less likely to be unemployed
In Panama, 8.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Barbados, that number is 6.5% as of 2025.
make 43.3% more money
Panama has a GDP per capita of $19,790 as of 2025, while in Barbados, the GDP per capita is $28,365 as of 2025.
Life
be 24.2% less likely to die during infancy
In Panama, approximately 12.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Barbados, on the other hand, 9.1 children do as of 2024.
have 29.9% fewer children
In Panama, there are approximately 15.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Barbados, there are 11.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 35.2% less on healthcare
Panama spends 8.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Barbados, that number is 5.4% of GDP as of 2023.
spend 44.1% more on education
Panama spends 2.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Barbados spends 3.6% of total GDP on education as of 2024.
Geography
see 96.1% less coastline
Panama has a total of 2,490 km of coastline. In Barbados, that number is 97 km.
Safety
be 36.5% less likely to be murdered
Panama has a homicide rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Barbados, that number is 7.4 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 37.0% more likely to die in a road accident
In Panama, road accidents kill 7.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Barbados, they kill 10.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 2.1 times more home broadband
Panama has 18.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Barbados has 37.5 as of 2022.
live with 97.2 times more strain on fresh water
Panama withdraws 1% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Barbados withdraws 88% as of 2022.
Environment
be 11.8% more likely to die from air pollution
In Panama, air pollution causes 17.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Barbados, it causes 19.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Panama vs. Barbados
Barbados: At a glance
How big is Barbados compared to Panama? See an in-depth size comparison.