Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Gambia instead of Costa Rica, you would:
Health
be 59.9% less likely to be obese
In Costa Rica, 25.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Gambia, that number is 10.3% of people as of 2016.
be 4.5 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Costa Rica, 0.4% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Gambia, that number is 1.8% of people as of 2020.
live 12.0 years less
In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Gambia, that number is 68 years (66 years for men, 69 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
be 21.9% less likely to be unemployed
In Costa Rica, 8.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Gambia, that number is 6.5% as of 2023.
make 88.8% less money
Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $25,800 as of 2023, while in Gambia, the GDP per capita is $2,900 as of 2023.
be 2.1 times more likely to live below the poverty line
In Costa Rica, 25.5% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Gambia, however, that number is 53.4% as of 2020.
Life
have 2.5 times more children
In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Gambia, there are 27.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 20.8 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 Gambia, 458.0 women do as of 2020.
be 40.7% less likely to be literate
In Costa Rica, the literacy rate is 98.0% as of 2021. In Gambia, it is 58.1% as of 2021.
be 4.4 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 Gambia, on the other hand, 37.2 children do as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 34.6% less likely to have access to electricity
In Costa Rica, approximately 100% of the population has electricity access as of 2022. In Gambia, 65% of the population do as of 2022.
be 60.2% less likely to have internet access
In Costa Rica, approximately 83.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Gambia, about 33.0% do as of 2021.
be 10.5% less likely to have access to improved drinking water
In Costa Rica, approximately 100% of people have improved drinking water access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Gambia, that number is 90% of people on average (92% in urban areas, and 86% in rural areas) as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 58.2% less on education
Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Gambia spends 2.8% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
spend 67.1% less on healthcare
Costa Rica spends 7.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Gambia, that number is 2.6% of GDP as of 2020.
Geography
see 93.8% less coastline
Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In Gambia, that number is 80 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
Gambia: At a glance
How big is Gambia compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.