Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 3.0 years longer

In Costa Rica, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Italy, that number is 83 years (80 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022.

be 22.6% less likely to be obese

In Costa Rica, 25.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Italy, that number is 19.9% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 2.0 times more money

Costa Rica has a GDP per capita of $25,800 as of 2023, while in Italy, the GDP per capita is $52,700 as of 2023.

be 21.2% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Costa Rica, 25.5% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Italy, however, that number is 20.1% as of 2021.

pay a 3.3 times higher top tax rate

Costa Rica has a top tax rate of 15.0% as of 2016. In Italy, the top tax rate is 48.8% as of 2016.

Life

be 77.3% less likely to die during childbirth

In Costa Rica, approximately 22.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Italy, 5.0 women do as of 2020.

be 62.3% 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 Italy, on the other hand, 3.2 children do as of 2022.

have 34.3% fewer children

In Costa Rica, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Italy, there are 7.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 35.8% less on education

Costa Rica spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Italy spends 4.3% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 21.5% more on healthcare

Costa Rica spends 7.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Italy, that number is 9.6% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 5.9 times more coastline

Costa Rica has a total of 1,290 km of coastline. In Italy, that number is 7,600 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Italian Revenue Agency, Directorate General of Taxation of Costa Rica.

Italy: At a glance

Italy is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 294,140 sq km. Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the regional states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy is a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include sluggish economic growth, high youth and female unemployment, organized crime, corruption, and economic disparities between southern Italy and the more prosperous north.
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How big is Italy compared to Costa Rica? See an in-depth size comparison.

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