Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Dominican Republic instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Health

live 7.1 years less

In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Dominican Republic, that number is 73 years (71 years for men, 74 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 33.0% less likely to be unemployed

In Costa Rica, 8.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Dominican Republic, that number is 5.6% as of 2023.

make 10.5% less money

Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $25,800 as of 2023, while in Dominican Republic, the GDP per capita is $23,100 as of 2023.

pay a 66.7% higher top tax rate

Costa Rica has a top tax rate of 15.0% as of 2016. In Dominican Republic, the top tax rate is 25.0% as of 2016.

Life

have 60.2% more children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Dominican Republic, there are 17.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 4.9 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Costa Rica, approximately 22.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Dominican Republic, 107.0 women do as of 2020.

be 2.5 times more 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 Dominican Republic, on the other hand, 21.2 children do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 31.3% less on education

Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Dominican Republic spends 4.6% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 38.0% less on healthcare

Costa Rica spends 7.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Dominican Republic, that number is 4.9% of GDP as of 2020.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Direccion General de Impuestos Internos, Directorate General of Taxation of Costa Rica.

Dominican Republic: At a glance

Dominican Republic is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 48,320 sq km. The Taino - indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola prior to the arrival of the Europeans - divided the island into five chiefdoms and territories. Christopher COLUMBUS explored and claimed the island on his first voyage in 1492; it became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930 to 1961. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (first term 1996-2000) won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was later reelected to a second consecutive term. In 2012, Danilo MEDINA Sanchez was elected president.
Read more

How big is Dominican Republic compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Dominican Republic.or Costa Rica It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.