Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Vanuatu, you would:
Health
live 4.5 years longer
In Vanuatu, the average life expectancy is 75 years (73 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2022. In Costa Rica, that number is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
make 7.0 times more money
Vanuatu has a GDP per capita of $2,800 as of 2020, while in Costa Rica, the GDP per capita is $19,700 as of 2020.
be 4.8 times more likely to be unemployed
In Vanuatu, 1.7% of adults are unemployed as of 1999. In Costa Rica, that number is 8.1% as of 2017.
Life
be 62.5% less likely to die during childbirth
In Vanuatu, approximately 72.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Costa Rica, 27.0 women do as of 2017.
be 11.9% more likely to be literate
In Vanuatu, the literacy rate is 87.5% as of 2018. In Costa Rica, it is 97.9% as of 2018.
be 41.5% less likely to die during infancy
In Vanuatu, approximately 14.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Costa Rica, on the other hand, 8.4 children do as of 2022.
have 33.8% fewer children
In Vanuatu, there are approximately 21.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Costa Rica, there are 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 61.8% more likely to have access to electricity
In Vanuatu, approximately 62% of the population has electricity access as of 2018. In Costa Rica, 100% of the population do as of 2020.
be 3.1 times more likely to have internet access
In Vanuatu, approximately 26.0% of the population has internet access as of 2019. In Costa Rica, about 81.0% do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 2.9 times more on education
Vanuatu spends 2.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Costa Rica spends 6.7% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
spend 2.1 times more on healthcare
Vanuatu spends 3.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Costa Rica, that number is 7.3% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 49.0% less coastline
Vanuatu has a total of 2,528 km of coastline. In Costa Rica, that number is 1,290 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
Costa Rica: At a glance
How big is Costa Rica compared to Vanuatu? See an in-depth size comparison.