Costa Rica vs Panama

Costa Rica
Latin America & Caribbean
High income
Capital: San Jose
Population
5.1M
GDP
$96.7B
Panama
Latin America & Caribbean
High income
Capital: Panama City
Population
4.5M
GDP
$86.5B

POP 1.1x GDP 1.1x LE 1.2 yrs same-band HIC

Widest indicator spreads · Costa Rica vs Panama

Inflation (Consumer Pric…110.6%Net Migration85.6%Freshwater Withdrawal70.9%Foreign Direct Investment61.4%Poverty (< $2.15/day)58.1%Education Expenditure (%…53.5%Stunting Prevalence (und…43.4%CO2 Emissions Per Capita40.4%
TIGHT pair: headers nearly match, so the chart is Inflation (Consumer Prices) rather than GDP scale.

Demographics: Population Density (Costa Rica, 40% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Population Density 100.0 60.1 2023
Population Ages 0-14 18.8% 24.9% 2024
Population Ages 65+ 12.2% 9.4% 2024
Urban Population 79.3% 66.0% 2024

1 closer demographics rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Economy: Inflation (Consumer Prices) (Panama, 111% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Inflation (Consumer Prices) -0.4% 0.7% 2024
Foreign Direct Investment $5.4B $2.1B 2024
GDP Growth Rate 4.1% 2.7% 2024
Unemployment Rate 6.9% 8.5% 2024

4 closer economy rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Health: Stunting Prevalence (under 5) (Panama, 43% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Stunting Prevalence (under 5) 9.0% 15.9% 2018
Physicians (per 1,000 people) 2.7 1.6 2022
Maternal Mortality Ratio 24 37 2023
Under-5 Mortality Rate 10.4 15.3 2024

3 closer health rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Education: Education Expenditure (% of GDP) (Costa Rica, 53% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 5.3% 2.5% 2023
School Enrollment (Secondary) 121.8% 76.6% 2024
Youth Literacy Rate 80.5% 99.2% 2018

3 closer education rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Environment: Freshwater Withdrawal (Costa Rica, 71% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Freshwater Withdrawal 3.1% 0.9% 2022
CO2 Emissions Per Capita 1.6 2.7 2024
Renewable Energy Consumption 34.2% 28.0% 2021
Electric Power Consumption 2,282 2,715 2024

1 closer environment rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Infrastructure: Internet Users (Costa Rica, 17% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Internet Users 87.2% 72.8% 2024

4 closer infrastructure rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Social: Net Migration (Panama, 86% spread)

Indicator Costa Rica Panama Year
Net Migration 967 6.7K 2024
Poverty (< $2.15/day) 1.3% 3.1% 2024
Intentional Homicides 17.7 11.7 2023
Female Labor Participation 46.0% 54.8% 2024

2 closer social rows sit on the Costa Rica and Panama profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

How to read this Costa Rica vs Panama comparison

Costa Rica vs Panama is a TIGHT pair on population/GDP scale (same-band HIC: HIC/HIC). Look past the near-parity headers to Inflation (Consumer Prices) (~111% spread); 42 WDI/WHO/ILO figures across 7 topics. Shared income tier makes small rate gaps more informative than totals. Figures may come from different reporting years; dollar values move with exchange rates; national averages conceal inequality. See our methodology.

Other curated pairs · TIGHT band

Indexable comparisons only (Module 42). Full picker with every country lives on /compare, not duplicated under every pair.

Costa Rica vs Panama figures: World Bank Open Data and health rows: WHO Global Health Observatory. CC BY 4.0 · same-band HIC · TIGHT scale band.