Panama vs Costa Rica

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

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

Widest indicator spreads · Panama vs Costa Rica

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indicator Panama Costa Rica Year
Stunting Prevalence (under 5) 15.9% 9.0% 2019
Physicians (per 1,000 people) 1.6 2.7 2022
Maternal Mortality Ratio 37 24 2023
Under-5 Mortality Rate 15.3 10.4 2024

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

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

Indicator Panama Costa Rica Year
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 2.5% 5.3% 2023
School Enrollment (Secondary) 76.6% 121.8% 2017
Youth Literacy Rate 99.2% 80.5% 2024

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

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

Indicator Panama Costa Rica Year
Freshwater Withdrawal 0.9% 3.1% 2022
CO2 Emissions Per Capita 2.7 1.6 2024
Renewable Energy Consumption 28.0% 34.2% 2021
Electric Power Consumption 2,715 2,282 2023

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

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

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

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

Social: Net Migration (Panama, 86% spread)

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

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

How to read this Panama vs Costa Rica comparison

Panama vs Costa Rica 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.

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