Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Ecuador instead of Panama, you would:
Health
be 63.6% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Panama, 1.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Ecuador, that number is 0.4% of people as of 2024.
be 23.3% less likely to be obese
In Panama, 37.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Ecuador, that number is 28.9% of people as of 2024.
have 42.3% more doctors per person
Panama has 16.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Ecuador has 23.1 as of 2020.
live 2.2 years less
In Panama, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2024. In Ecuador, that number is 78 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.
see 62.7% less spent on your healthcare
Panama spends $3,318 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Ecuador spends $1,238 as of 2023.
be 2.3 times more likely to die by suicide
Panama has a suicide rate of 3.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Ecuador, it is 7.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Economy
be 60.4% less likely to be unemployed
In Panama, 8.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Ecuador, that number is 3.3% as of 2025.
make 64.0% less money
Panama has a GDP per capita of $19,790 as of 2025, while in Ecuador, the GDP per capita is $7,125 as of 2025.
Life
be 48.6% more likely to die during childbirth
In Panama, approximately 37.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Ecuador, 55.0 women do as of 2023.
Expenditures
spend 49.4% more on education
Panama spends 2.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Ecuador spends 3.7% of total GDP on education as of 2024.
Geography
see 10.2% less coastline
Panama has a total of 2,490 km of coastline. In Ecuador, that number is 2,237 km.
Safety
be 3.9 times more likely to be murdered
Panama has a homicide rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Ecuador, that number is 45.7 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 3.2 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Panama, road accidents kill 7.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Ecuador, they kill 23.4 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 7.5 times more strain on fresh water
Panama withdraws 1% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Ecuador withdraws 7% as of 2022.
use 38.3% less electricity
Panama uses 2,715 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Ecuador uses 1,676 kWh as of 2023.
Environment
be 35.3% more likely to die from air pollution
In Panama, air pollution causes 17.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Ecuador, it causes 23.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2020–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Panama vs. Ecuador
Ecuador: At a glance
How big is Ecuador compared to Panama? See an in-depth size comparison.