Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Mexico instead of Panama, you would:
Health
be 54.5% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Panama, 1.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Mexico, that number is 0.5% of people as of 2024.
have 59.3% more doctors per person
Panama has 16.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Mexico has 25.9 as of 2022.
live 4.5 years less
In Panama, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2024. In Mexico, that number is 75 years (72 years for men, 78 years for women) as of 2024.
see 58.8% less spent on your healthcare
Panama spends $3,318 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Mexico spends $1,368 as of 2023.
be 2.1 times more likely to die by suicide
Panama has a suicide rate of 3.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Mexico, it is 7.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Economy
be 68.1% less likely to be unemployed
In Panama, 8.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Mexico, that number is 2.7% as of 2025.
be 36.4% more likely to live below the poverty line
In Panama, 21.7% live below the poverty line as of 2023. In Mexico, however, that number is 29.6% as of 2024.
make 29.8% less money
Panama has a GDP per capita of $19,790 as of 2025, while in Mexico, the GDP per capita is $13,889 as of 2025.
Basic Needs
be 14.2% more likely to have internet access
In Panama, approximately 72.8% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Mexico, about 83.1% do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 34.0% less on healthcare
Panama spends 8.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Mexico, that number is 5.5% of GDP as of 2023.
spend 64.4% more on education
Panama spends 2.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Mexico spends 4.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
Geography
see 3.7 times more coastline
Panama has a total of 2,490 km of coastline. In Mexico, that number is 9,330 km.
Safety
be 2.1 times more likely to be murdered
Panama has a homicide rate of 11.7 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Mexico, that number is 24.9 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 64.4% more likely to die in a road accident
In Panama, road accidents kill 7.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Mexico, they kill 12.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 19.9% more home broadband
Panama has 18.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Mexico has 21.7 as of 2024.
live with 49.9 times more strain on fresh water
Panama withdraws 1% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Mexico withdraws 45% as of 2022.
Environment
be 76.5% more likely to die from air pollution
In Panama, air pollution causes 17.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Mexico, it causes 30.0 as of 2019.
emit 32.8% more CO2
Panama emits 2.7 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Mexico emits 3.6 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Panama vs. Mexico
Mexico: At a glance
How big is Mexico compared to Panama? See an in-depth size comparison.