Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Samoa instead of Panama, you would:
Health
live 8.0 years less
In Panama, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2024. In Samoa, that number is 72 years (70 years for men, 74 years for women) as of 2024.
be 70.4% more likely to be obese
In Panama, 37.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Samoa, that number is 64.3% of people as of 2024.
see 85.7% less spent on your healthcare
Panama spends $3,318 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Samoa spends $475 as of 2023.
have 65.5% fewer doctors per person
Panama has 16.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Samoa has 5.6 as of 2021.
have 29.5% less access to essential health services
Panama scores 78 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Samoa scores 55 as of 2021.
be 3.6 times more likely to die by suicide
Panama has a suicide rate of 3.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Samoa, it is 12.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Economy
be 40.2% less likely to be unemployed
In Panama, 8.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Samoa, that number is 5.0% as of 2025.
make 70.3% less money
Panama has a GDP per capita of $19,790 as of 2025, while in Samoa, the GDP per capita is $5,873 as of 2025.
Life
have 57.3% more children
In Panama, there are approximately 15.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Samoa, there are 25.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 2.7 times 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 Samoa, 101.0 women do as of 2023.
Expenditures
spend 18.6% less on healthcare
Panama spends 8.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Samoa, that number is 6.8% of GDP as of 2023.
spend 2.2 times more on education
Panama spends 2.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Samoa spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2024.
Geography
see 83.8% less coastline
Panama has a total of 2,490 km of coastline. In Samoa, that number is 403 km.
Safety
be 31.5% more likely to die in a road accident
In Panama, road accidents kill 7.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Samoa, they kill 9.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 95.1% less home broadband
Panama has 18.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Samoa has 0.9 as of 2022.
Environment
emit 41.6% less CO2
Panama emits 2.7 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Samoa emits 1.6 tonnes as of 2024.
be 100.0% more likely to die from air pollution
In Panama, air pollution causes 17.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Samoa, it causes 34.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Panama vs. Samoa
Samoa: At a glance
How big is Samoa compared to Panama? See an in-depth size comparison.