Where is it better to live in Slovakia or in Spain?
To answer the question - which country - Slovakia or Spain, 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 Slovakia - 45,1 thousand dollars,
● In Spain - 55,8 thousand dollars.
Thus, according to the gross production per one person, Spain leaves Slovakia behind by %.
Let’s compare the data about minimum and average labor level pay in both countries.
● The minimum wage in Slovakia set at EUR 816;
● The minimum wage in Spain set at €1,323.
The average gross salary (before the taxes and other mandatory fees) is:
● in Slovakia - 1,708 EUR (1870 US$);
● in Spain - 2,363 euros (2528 US$).
The average net salary (i.e. the sum, given to the workers after the tax pay) is a bit lower:
● in Slovakia - 1270 Euro (1393 US$);
● in Spain - 1,858 Euro (1990 US$).
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, Slovakia is a cheaper country.
The price level in Slovakia for basic goods and services (including food, consumer goods, transport, mobile connection and utility bills) is on average % lower than in Spain. In other words, at the current exchange rate 1000 dollars in Spain will have the same purchasing power as dollars in Slovakia.
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 Slovakia - 31;
● in Spain - 36.6
***
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 Slovaks and Spaniards, being imprisoned.
Yearly out of 100 thousand people, murders kill:
● in Slovakia - 0.74 people;
● in Spain - 0.68 people
***As of 2023 year, in prisons and criminal camps the number of inmates is:
● in Slovakia - 10.6 thousand, or 189 prisoners per 100,000 people;
● in Spain - 55.4 thousand, or 122 prisoners per 100,000 people
So, they kill and get imprisoned more in Slovakia, though according to the crime rate, the more criminal country is Spain.
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 Slovakia - 78.2 years (74.8 years among men and 81.4 years among women)
● in Spain - 83.2 years (80.7 years among men and 85.7 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 Slovakia - 1500 of the infected (0.03% of population)
● in Spain - 150000 of the infected (0.32% of population)
The number of people infected by tuberculosis is:
● in Slovakia - 250 people (5 per 100,000 people);
● in Spain - 4300 people (9 per 100,000 people)
The cancer situation is the following:
● in Slovakia per 100 000 people yearly one finds 296.8 new cases of the disease and registers 141.3 lethal cases;
● in Spain per 100k people every year one fixes 277.2 of newly infected people and 90.3 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 Slovakia - ;
● in Spain -
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We can estimate the effectiveness of the health care systems of Slovakia and Spain 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 Slovakia - 58.4;
● in Spain - 77.3
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 Slovakia - 11.1 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 17.4 litres per every man and 5.4 litres per every woman);
● in Spain - 12.7 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 20.1 litres per every man and 5.8 litres per every woman)
How noticeable are the differences in alcoholic beverages of the Slovaks and the Spaniards?
● in Slovakia, in terms of pure alcohol, beer accounts for 30.1% % of consumption, wine accounts for 18.3% of consumption, strong drinks (vodka and cognac, etc.) account for 46.2% of consumption, other drinks (including home-made ones) - 5.5% of consumption;
● in Spain beer accounts for 49.7% from the total amount of alcohol consumption, wine accounts for 20.1%, strong drinks - 28.2%, all the rest (including braga, moonshine, etc. ) - 1.8%
***
Addiction to smoking in the countries under consideration is seen like that:
● in Slovakia there are 32,4 % of active smokers among the adults (36,3 % of adult males and 28,5 % of adult females smoke there);
● in Spain 28,4 % of adult population smoke on a constant base (29,4 % of men and 27,5 % of women)
By unit tobacco consumption per capita the leader is Slovakia - here on average every adult smokes 1501 cigarettes per year, against 1499 cigarettes per capita in Spain.
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 Slovaks, their happiness index is 6.469, meanwhile in Spain the happiness index is equal to 6.436.
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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 Slovakia is 0.848; in Spain - 0.905.
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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 Slovakia - 9,3 suicides (16,7 among men and 2,6 among women) ;
● in Spain - 5,3 suicides (7,9 among men and 2,8 among women)
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