Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Mexico instead of Cuba, you would:

Health

live 7.3 years less

In Cuba, the average life expectancy is 80 years (77 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2022. In Mexico, that number is 72 years (69 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2022.

be 17.5% more likely to be obese

In Cuba, 24.6% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Mexico, that number is 28.9% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 65.0% more money

Cuba has a GDP per capita of $12,300 as of 2016, while in Mexico, the GDP per capita is $20,300 as of 2022.

be 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed

In Cuba, 1.2% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Mexico, that number is 3.3% as of 2022.

Life

have 44.4% more children

In Cuba, there are approximately 9.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Mexico, there are 14.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 51.3% more likely to die during childbirth

In Cuba, approximately 39.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Mexico, 59.0 women do as of 2020.

be 2.9 times more likely to die during infancy

In Cuba, approximately 4.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Mexico, on the other hand, 11.9 children do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 66.4% less on education

Cuba spends 12.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2010. Mexico spends 4.3% of total GDP on education as of 2018.

spend 50.4% less on healthcare

Cuba spends 12.5% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Mexico, that number is 6.2% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 2.5 times more coastline

Cuba has a total of 3,735 km of coastline. In Mexico, that number is 9,330 km.

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

Mexico: At a glance

Mexico is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 1,943,945 sq km. The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved its independence early in the 19th century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON, but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.
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How big is Mexico compared to Cuba? See an in-depth size comparison.

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