Costa Rica’s coastline is 42% longer than Nicaragua’s

Costa Rica: 1,290 km (2026 edition) · Nicaragua: 910 km (2026 edition)

Costa Rica’s highest peak towers 1,734 m above Nicaragua’s

Costa Rica: 3,819 m (2026 edition) · Nicaragua: 2,085 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 42% of Nicaragua, versus 31% of Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 31.4% (2024) · Nicaragua: 42.3% (2023)

Nicaragua has 36% more people than Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 5.15 million (2025) · Nicaragua: 7.01 million (2025)

Costa Rica is 75% more densely populated than Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 102 per km² (2025) · Nicaragua: 58 per km² (2025)

The typical person in Costa Rica is 8.8 years older than in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 34.1 years (2023) · Nicaragua: 25.3 years (2023)

Women in Nicaragua have 0.9 more children on average than in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 1.32 children per woman (2024) · Nicaragua: 2.21 children per woman (2024)

13% of people in Costa Rica are 65 or older, versus 5.7% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 12.8% (2025) · Nicaragua: 5.7% (2025)

Costa Rica hosts 155 times as many refugees per resident as Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 7.1 per 1,000 (2025) · Nicaragua: 0.046 per 1,000 (2023)

Costa Rica has produced 1.9 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Nicaragua none

Costa Rica: 1.9 (2026) · Nicaragua: 0 (2026)

Costa Rica and Nicaragua are practically level

Costa Rica: 1 (2026) · Nicaragua: 1 (2026)

Costa Rica’s economy is 4.6 times the size of Nicaragua’s

Costa Rica: $103 billion (2025) · Nicaragua: $22.2 billion (2025)

Costa Rica produces 3.6 times as much per person as Nicaragua

Costa Rica: Int$33,815 (2025) · Nicaragua: Int$9,284 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in Nicaragua than in Costa Rica (Gini 0.7 points higher)

Costa Rica: 45.5 (2025) · Nicaragua: 46.2 (2014)

Costa Rica: 0.8% (2025) · Nicaragua: no data

Unemployment is 6.8% in Costa Rica, versus 5.0% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 6.8% (2025) · Nicaragua: 5% (2025)

Nicaragua spends 0.6% of its GDP on the military, Costa Rica 0%

Costa Rica: 0% (2025) · Nicaragua: 0.6% (2025)

Nicaragua’s central government collects 20% of GDP in tax, Costa Rica’s 13%

Costa Rica: 13.5% (2024) · Nicaragua: 20.1% (2024)

Costa Rica’s price level (US = 100) is 1.7× Nicaragua’s

Costa Rica: 59% (2025) · Nicaragua: 34% (2025)

Costa Rica spends 5.4 times as much on health per person as Nicaragua

Costa Rica: $1,163 (2023) · Nicaragua: $217 (2023)

A baby in Nicaragua is 3% more likely to die before turning one than in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 9.1 per 1,000 (2024) · Nicaragua: 9.4 per 1,000 (2024)

Costa Rica has 3.9 times as many doctors per person as Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 2.7 per 1,000 (2022) · Nicaragua: 0.7 per 1,000 (2018)

Costa Rica has 18% more hospital beds per person than Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 1.1 per 1,000 (2022) · Nicaragua: 1 per 1,000 (2022)

The suicide rate in Nicaragua is 3% higher than in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 6.9 per 100k (2023) · Nicaragua: 7.1 per 100k (2023)

34% of adults in Nicaragua are obese, versus 33% in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 33.4% (2024) · Nicaragua: 34% (2024)

Costa Rica: 7.9% (2024) · Nicaragua: no data

People in Costa Rica rate their lives 1.14 points higher than in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 7.44 (2025) · Nicaragua: 6.30 (2025)

Adults in Nicaragua drink 8% more alcohol than in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 4 litres (2023) · Nicaragua: 4.3 litres (2023)

Costa Rica has 77% more meat per person than Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 64.1 kg (2023) · Nicaragua: 36.3 kg (2023)

Costa Rica has 301 kcal more food per person per day than Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 3,061 kcal (2023) · Nicaragua: 2,760 kcal (2023)

Costa Rica: 2,177 hours (2023) · Nicaragua: no data

Adults in Nicaragua went to school 1.1 years longer than in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 8.8 years (2023) · Nicaragua: 9.9 years (2023)

Costa Rica welcomed 4.7 times as many tourists per resident as Nicaragua (2019)

Costa Rica: 0.57 (2024) · Nicaragua: 0.12 (2022)

Costa Rica has 2 more World Heritage sites than Nicaragua (4 against 2)

Costa Rica: 4 (2026) · Nicaragua: 2 (2026)

Costa Rica has won 4 Olympic medals, Nicaragua none

Costa Rica: 4 (2026 edition) · Nicaragua: 0 (2026 edition)

87% of people in Costa Rica are online, versus 61% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 87% (2024) · Nicaragua: 61% (2024)

Home internet in Costa Rica is 81% faster than in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 228 Mbps (2026) · Nicaragua: 126 Mbps (2026)

100% of people in Costa Rica have electricity, versus 89% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 99.8% (2024) · Nicaragua: 88.7% (2024)

80% of people in Costa Rica live in cities, versus 59% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 80% (2025) · Nicaragua: 59% (2025)

Costa Rica has 136 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Nicaragua 106

Costa Rica: 136 (2024) · Nicaragua: 106 (2024)

Costa Rica: 278 km (2014) · Nicaragua: no data

Costa Rica: 0.38 (2023) · Nicaragua: no data

Forest covers 59% of Costa Rica, but only 26% of Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 59.1% (2024) · Nicaragua: 25.8% (2023)

The average person in Costa Rica emits 2.1 times as much CO₂ as someone in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 1.7 t (2024) · Nicaragua: 0.8 t (2024)

100% of Costa Rica’s electricity is renewable, versus 62% in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 100% (2025) · Nicaragua: 62.4% (2024)

Nicaragua and Costa Rica are nearly identical here

Costa Rica: 20.3 µg/m³ (2024) · Nicaragua: 20.5 µg/m³ (2024)

You are 56% more likely to be murdered in Costa Rica than in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 17.7 per 100k (2023) · Nicaragua: 11.3 per 100k (2021)

Roads in Costa Rica are 32% deadlier than in Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 30.7 per 100k (2023) · Nicaragua: 23.2 per 100k (2023)

Nicaragua is on average 2.5 °C warmer than Costa Rica

Costa Rica: 23.3°C (2016–2025 avg) · Nicaragua: 25.8°C (2016–2025 avg)

Costa Rica gets 76% more rain than Nicaragua

Costa Rica: 3,367 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Nicaragua: 1,913 mm (2016–2025 avg)