Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Belarus instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Health

live 5.4 years less

In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Belarus, that number is 74 years (69 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 57.0% less likely to be unemployed

In Costa Rica, 8.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Belarus, that number is 3.6% as of 2023.

be 81.2% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Costa Rica, 25.5% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Belarus, however, that number is 4.8% as of 2020.

pay a 13.3% lower top tax rate

Costa Rica has a top tax rate of 15.0% as of 2016. In Belarus, the top tax rate is 13.0% as of 2017.

Life

be 95.5% less likely to die during childbirth

In Costa Rica, approximately 22.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Belarus, 1.0 women do as of 2020.

be 61.0% less likely to die during infancy

In Costa Rica, approximately 8.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Belarus, on the other hand, 3.3 children do as of 2022.

have 23.1% fewer children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Belarus, there are 8.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 29.9% less on education

Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Belarus spends 4.7% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

spend 19.0% less on healthcare

Costa Rica spends 7.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Belarus, that number is 6.4% of GDP as of 2020.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry for Taxes and Levies of the Republic of Belarus, Directorate General of Taxation of Costa Rica.

Belarus: At a glance

Belarus is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 202,900 sq km. After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than have any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first directly elected president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means and a centralized economic system. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.
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How big is Belarus compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.

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