The standard of life in Costa Rica
Is it good to live in Costa Rica? Let’s look at different indicators, characterizing the level and quality of life in this country.
The income and wealth of population
The quality of medicine and population health
Alcohol consumption and smoking
How much Costa Ricans are satisfiedу by their life
***The income and population wealth of Costa Rica
The most important indicator which allows us to evaluate the level of economic development of the country is gross domestic product per capita. According to 2024 data, GDP, calculated by purchasing power parity, makes in Costa Rica 30,9 thousand dollars per capita (for comparison, on average in the world - about 20,4 thousand dollars).
How much do the people of Costa Rica earn? The minimum wage (MW) at present sets at 358,600 colones (about US$700).
The average gross salary (before taxes) makes 787.1 thousand colones (About $1,500) per month.
The indicators, characterizing the level of population provision, also include the motorization rate. Every 1000 of Costa Ricans have 224 cars of different kinds.
The cost of living in Costa Rica up↑
Costa Rica is a country with moderately high prices.
According to the statistics of the data base Numbeo (2025), the food prices here are % lower than in the USA. The house rent in Costa Rica will be on average % less expensive than the same like house or flat rent in the USA.
The price of the basic consumer basket (including food, clothes, transport, mobile and internet connection, utility bills) in Costa Rica is on average % lower than in the USA.
The crime rate in Costa Rica up↑
One can evaluate the general level of criminal situation with the help of “crime rate”, which 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 in Costa Rica is 54.1 points.
One can size up population law-abidingness and law enforcement activity with the help of also with data about the number of murders and about the number of prisoners.
Every year in Costa Rica there are 12.82 premeditated murders per 100 thousand of people.
As of 2023 year, in prisons and criminal camps of Costa Rica there are 15.5 thousand prisoners, or 301 inmates per 100 000 of people.
Population health and the medicine quality up↑
To estimate the medicine condition of the state one can orient on healthcare index. The index comprehensively displays how bad or good it is in the country with medical services. It considers such indicators as hospital facilities and medicines, staff professionalism and treatment cost. As of 2025 year, the healthcare system of Costa Rica is rated at 64.3 points.
The medicine quality greatly defines the longevity of its citizens. The average life expectancy in Costa Rica is 80.8 years (78.3 years among men and 83.4 years among women). For comparison, the average life expectancy in the world is 67,2 years (65 years among men and 69,5 years among women).
To get an idea about the nation’s health, one should look at prevalence rates of some dangerous diseases.
According to the World Health Organization data (WHO), the number of HIV-infected in Costa Rica is 17000 people, or 0.33% of population.
Tuberculosis has been found in 510 Costa Ricans (10 people per 100 000 of population).
Every year in Costa Rica among 100 000 of people one finds 188.7 new episodes of cancer and records 80.1 lethal cases from it. The yearly ratio of lethal episodes to the number of new cases is (The lower the ratio is, the higher the amount of the cured is; respectively, it means that the local health care system works better).
Alcohol consumption and smoking up↑
The exposure of the population to bad habits can also be referred to the integral part of the life quality in the country. It’s considered that in general it’s more comfortable to live where they smoke and drink less.
Lately on average the annual alcohol consumption in Costa Rica has been about 4.9 of liters of pure alcohol per one person older than 15 years old (about 7.8 liters per one man and 2 liters per one woman).
What do Costa Ricans drink? According to the statistics, the beer content in the total amount of alcohol consumption is 59.3%, the wine content is 4.7%, the hard liquor content (vodka, cognac, etc.) is 35.5%.
On a constant base in Costa Ricans there are 8,9 % adult smokers, among them there are 13,2 % adult men and 4,5 % women. On average tobacco consumption makes 411 cigarettes per person during one year.
How much are the people satisfied by their lives in the country? up↑ It might be difficult to choose the indicator which can help to define how much the people of this or that country are satisfied by their lives. It’s easier to estimate the living conditions, the ability or failure to meet basic needs of the population. For example, the UN experts have developed a so-called "happiness index", which shows how the state achievements are able to provide citizens with a happy life. As of 2023 year, in Costa Rica this index was 6.609. Besides, there is a well-known integral indicator, used by the UN, - Human Development Index (HDI) which fully takes into the account different reasons to feel comfortable. According to 2022, HDI in Costa Rica was equal to 0.809. One can indirectly evaluate the people’s satisfaction by their lives with the help of the number of suicides. It comes logically that the better their lives are organized, the fewer reasons to commit a suicide they have. Every year in Costa Rica per 100 000 of people, there are 7,6 suicides (13,3) among men and 1,9 among women). Do you want to compare Costa Rica with other countries with such indicators as the area of the territory, population, economy, the standard of living, etc? Fill in the gaps below with the country and choose the criteria:
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