Where is it better to live in Mexico or in Latvia?
To answer the question - which country - Mexico or Latvia, is more comfortable for living, let’s compare different constituents which make the standard of living:
Would you like to contrast other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and choose the criteria for comparison:
Perhaps, it’s difficult to argue that it’s better to live in a rich country than in a poor one. As of 2024 year data, the basic indicator of the economic development - GDP by purchasing power parity per capita - was:
● In Mexico - 25,1 thousand dollars,
● In Latvia - 42,9 thousand dollars.
Thus, according to the gross production per one person, Latvia leaves Mexico behind by %.
Let’s compare the data about minimum and average labor level pay in both countries.
● The minimum wage in Mexico varies, depending on the region of the country, from 207 to 465 Mexican pesos per day (equivalent to US$ 267-600 for a five-day week);
● The minimum wage in Latvia set at €740.
The average gross salary (before the taxes and other mandatory fees) is:
● in Mexico - 12,900 Mexican pesos (about 730 US$);
● in Latvia - 1,548 euros (1670 US$).
The average net salary (i.e. the sum, given to the workers after the tax pay) is a bit lower:
● in Mexico - 11,400 Mexican pesos (650 US$);
● in Latvia - 1130 Euro (1220 US$).
Where are the prices lower? up↑
The average GDP gap per capita is narrowed down by the difference in cost of living. According to the statistics of the data base Numbeo, at the beginning of 2025 year, Mexico is a cheaper country.
The price level in Mexico for basic goods and services (including food, consumer goods, transport, mobile connection and utility bills) is on average % lower than in Latvia. In other words, at the current exchange rate 1000 dollars in Latvia will have the same purchasing power as dollars in Mexico.
Where is the crime rate lower? up↑
One can evaluate the general level of criminal situation with the help of “crime rate”. This indicator is calculated by the portal Numbeo, which specializes in rating scores of different life aspects in all the world regions and shows how safe it is to live in the country from a risk of becoming a victim of lawbreakers (the higher the crime rate is, the higher the risk is). As of 2025 year, the crime rate is:
● in Mexico - 53.4;
● in Latvia - 37.1
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To estimate the population law-abidingness and law enforcement activity, let’s pay attention to the statics of premeditated murders and to the data about the number of Mexicans and Latvians, being imprisoned.
Yearly out of 100 thousand people, murders kill:
● in Mexico - 26.11 people;
● in Latvia - 3.62 people
***As of 2023 year, in prisons and criminal camps the number of inmates is:
● in Mexico - 223.4 thousand, or 169 prisoners per 100,000 people;
● in Latvia - 3.32 thousand, or 165 prisoners per 100,000 people
So, if we consider the risks connected with the crimes, the safer country is definitely Latvia.
Where do people get sick less and live longer? up↑
The life quality is greatly defined by how long the people live. According to the latest data, the life expectancy is:
● in Mexico - 76 years (73.1 years among men and 78.9 years among women)
● in Latvia - 75.4 years (70.6 years among men and 79.8 years among women)
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To get an idea about the nation’s health and the system of health care, one should look at the spread of dangerous diseases in the country. Let’s compare where people often suffer from such diseases as HIV-infections, tuberculosis and cancer.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), the spread of HIV-infections is:
● in Mexico - 370000 of the infected (0.29% of population)
● in Latvia - 7500 of the infected (0.41% of population)
The number of people infected by tuberculosis is:
● in Mexico - 30000 people (23 per 100,000 people);
● in Latvia - 490 people (26 per 100,000 people)
The cancer situation is the following:
● in Mexico per 100 000 people yearly one finds 140.4 new cases of the disease and registers 63.2 lethal cases;
● in Latvia per 100k people every year one fixes 301.5 of newly infected people and 124.5 lethal cases from cancer.
We should not judge about the quality of medicine only by the number of cancer cases, we should look at the ratio between the number of new cases and the number of cancer deaths (the lower it is, the higher the rate of the cured ones is; consequently, the better the health care system works). In the countries under consideration, we see the following ratio between the newly-infected and the dead:
● in Mexico - ;
● in Latvia -
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We can estimate the effectiveness of the health care systems of Mexico and Latvia on the base of the health care quality index which is estimated by Nubmbeo. The index comprehensively displays how bad or good it is in the country with medical services, taking into consideration hospital facilities, medicines, staff professionalism and treatment availability in terms of cost. As of 2025 year, the index is:
● in Mexico - 72.5;
● in Latvia - 62.4
Where do people drink and smoke less? up↑
It’s considered that It’s more comfortable to live in that country where people are less exposed to bad habits. The following WHO data show that the situation with the alcohol consumption (pure alcohol) runs as this:
● in Mexico - 5 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 8 litres per every man and 2.1 litres per every woman);
● in Latvia - 12.8 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 20.9 litres per every man and 6.1 litres per every woman)
How noticeable are the differences in alcoholic beverages of the Mexicans and the Latvians?
● in Mexico, in terms of pure alcohol, beer accounts for 75.7% % of consumption, wine accounts for 1.5% of consumption, strong drinks (vodka and cognac, etc.) account for 22.2%;
● in Latvia beer accounts for 46.9% from the total amount of alcohol consumption, wine accounts for 10.7%, strong drinks - 37%, all the rest (including braga, moonshine, etc. ) - 5.4%
***
Addiction to smoking in the countries under consideration is seen like that:
● in Mexico there are 14,9 % of active smokers among the adults (23 % of adult males and 6,9 % of adult females smoke there);
● in Latvia 33,9 % of adult population smoke on a constant base (46,6 % of men and 21,1 % of women)
By unit tobacco consumption per capita the leader is Latvia - here on average every adult smokes 1189 cigarettes per year, against 327 cigarettes per capita in Mexico.
Where do people have more reasons to be satisfied with their lives? up↑
Perhaps, it’s very difficult to make up an indicator, with the help of which one can define how much the people of this or that country are satisfied by their lives. Nevertheless, there have been a couple of researches.
For example, the UN experts calculate a so-called "Rating of countries by the Happiness Index”, which helps to understand to what degree the states provide their citizens with the happy life. As of 2023 data, the happiest ones are Mexicans, their happiness index is 6.33, meanwhile in Latvia the happiness index is equal to 6.213.
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There is also an overall index, which is used by UNO - Human Development Index (HDI). This index considers various reasons why citizens feel comfortable. According to 2022 data, HDI in Mexico is 0.758; in Latvia - 0.863.
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To indirectly evaluate how much the people are satisfied with their lives, one can consider the number of suicides. It comes logically that the better the lives of the people are arranged, the fewer reasons for the suicides there are. In the countries under consideration, per 100 000 people there are:
● in Mexico - 5,3 suicides (8,7 among men and 2,2 among women) ;
● in Latvia - 16,1 suicides (29,0 among men and 4,6 among women)
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