Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Belize, you would:

Health

be 83.3% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Belize, 1.2% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Nicaragua, that number is 0.2% of people as of 2020.

live 1.0 years less

In Belize, the average life expectancy is 76 years (74 years for men, 78 years for women) as of 2022. In Nicaragua, that number is 75 years (73 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 41.9% less likely to be unemployed

In Belize, 8.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Nicaragua, that number is 4.8% as of 2023.

be 39.3% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Belize, 41.0% live below the poverty line as of 2013. In Nicaragua, however, that number is 24.9% as of 2016.

make 43.0% less money

Belize has a GDP per capita of $12,800 as of 2023, while in Nicaragua, the GDP per capita is $7,300 as of 2023.

Life

be 40.0% less likely to die during childbirth

In Belize, approximately 130.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Nicaragua, 78.0 women do as of 2020.

be 71.2% more likely to die during infancy

In Belize, approximately 11.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Nicaragua, on the other hand, 19.1 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 12.3% less likely to have access to electricity

In Belize, approximately 99% of people have electricity access (98% in urban areas, and 97% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Nicaragua, that number is 86% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 66% in rural areas) as of 2022.

be 16.5% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Belize, approximately 100% of people have improved drinking water access (100% in urban areas, and 99% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Nicaragua, that number is 83% of people on average (98% in urban areas, and 63% in rural areas) as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 47.1% less on education

Belize spends 8.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Nicaragua spends 4.6% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 24.6% more on healthcare

Belize spends 6.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Nicaragua, that number is 8.6% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 2.4 times more coastline

Belize has a total of 386 km of coastline. In Nicaragua, that number is 910 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Nicaragua: At a glance

Nicaragua is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 119,990 sq km. The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra was elected president in 2006 and reelected in 2011. The 2008 municipal elections, 2010 regional elections, 2011 presidential elections, 2012 municipal elections, and 2013 regional elections were marred by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions have been weakened under the ORTEGA administration.
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How big is Nicaragua compared to Belize? See an in-depth size comparison.

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