Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 5.7 years less

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

Economy

make 2.6 times more money

Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $25,800 as of 2023, while in Greenland, the GDP per capita is $68,100 as of 2021.

be 36.5% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Costa Rica, 25.5% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Greenland, however, that number is 16.2% as of 2015.

Life

have 25.0% more children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Greenland, there are 13.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 16.3% less likely to have internet access

In Costa Rica, approximately 83.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Greenland, about 69.5% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 52.2% more on education

Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Greenland spends 10.2% of total GDP on education as of 2019.

Geography

see 34.2 times more coastline

Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In Greenland, that number is 44,087 km.

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

Greenland: At a glance

Greenland is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 2,166,086 sq km. Greenland, the world's largest island, is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the EU) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Greenland voted in favor of increased self-rule in November 2008 and acquired greater responsibility for internal affairs when the Act on Greenland Self-Government was signed into law in June 2009. Denmark, however, continues to exercise control over several policy areas on behalf of Greenland including foreign affairs, security, and financial policy in consultation with Greenland's Self-Rule Government.
Read more

How big is Greenland 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 Greenland.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.