Matchup file

Costa Rica vs Panama

120 shared metrics.

Costa RicaLeads in 68

vs120 shared

PanamaLeads in 52

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Costa Rica leads by 16 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Costa Rica

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Costa Rica.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Costa Rica reached 300 days of 100% renewable electricity generation in 2017.

ICE

Panama

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Panama.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

The Panama Canal lets ships cross between Atlantic and Pacific waters without rounding South America.

Britannica

Analysis

Costa Rica leads in 68 of 120 shared metrics, while Panama leads in 52.

Costa Rica's Capital Elevation is 57.0x that of Panama (1.2K m vs 20 m).

Costa Rica's High-Tech Exports (%) is 11.9x that of Panama (22.86% vs 1.8%).

Costa Rica's EV Chargers per 100,000 People is 7.5x that of Panama (2.1 per 100k people vs 0.24 per 100k people).

Costa Rica's Railway Length is 2.6x that of Panama (278 km vs 77 km).

Costa Rica's Water Stress (%) is 2.4x that of Panama (3.1% vs 0.89%).

Key Comparisons

Capital ElevationCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

1.2K m

Panama

20 m

High-Tech Exports (%)Costa Rica leads

Costa Rica

22.86%

Panama

1.8%

EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)Costa Rica leads

Costa Rica

2.1 per 100k people

Panama

0.24 per 100k people

Railway LengthCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

278 km

Panama

77 km

Water Stress (%)Costa Rica leads

Costa Rica

3.1%

Panama

0.89%

Water WithdrawalCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

Panama

Costa Rica

0.70%

Panama

7.4%

91% lower

Costa Rica

13.91% of GDP

Panama

7.5% of GDP

86% higher

Researchers

Costa Rica

462.47 per 1M

Panama

253.27 per 1M

83% higher

Comparison of Costa Rica and Panama across 120 metrics
				Winner
Capital Elevation	1.2K m	20 m	5705% higher	Costa Rica
High-Tech Exports (%)	22.86%	1.8%	1193% higher	Costa Rica
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	2.1 per 100k people	0.24 per 100k people	746% higher	Costa Rica
Railway Length	278 km	77 km	261% higher	Costa Rica
Water Stress (%)	3.1%	0.89%	244% higher	Costa Rica
Water Withdrawal	3.4 B m³	1.2 B m³	185% higher	Costa Rica
Milk Consumption per Person	183.28 kg/person/yr	70.29 kg/person/yr	161% higher	Costa Rica
Irrigated Land	1.0K km²	394 km²	158% higher	Costa Rica
Education Spending (% GDP)	6.2% of GDP	2.5% of GDP	153% higher	Costa Rica
Suicide Rate	8.1 per 100k	3.3 per 100k	145% higher	Costa Rica
Women in Parliament (%)	49.12%	21.43%	129% higher	Costa Rica
R&D Spending (% GDP)	0.34% of GDP	0.16% of GDP	114% higher	Costa Rica
Road Traffic Death Rate	15.5 per 100k	7.3 per 100k	112% higher	Costa Rica
Merchant Fleet Size	11	8.2K	100% lower	Panama
Solar Electricity Share	0.70%	7.4%	91% lower	Panama
Scientific Publications	711.36	376.12	89% higher	Costa Rica
Electricity Carbon Intensity	24.2 gCO2/kWh	221.15 gCO2/kWh	89% lower	Panama
Air Passengers	1.97M	15.75M	87% lower	Panama
Tax Revenue (% GDP)	13.91% of GDP	7.5% of GDP	86% higher	Costa Rica
Researchers	462.47 per 1M	253.27 per 1M	83% higher	Costa Rica
Shipping Traffic	1.59M	8.52M	81% lower	Panama
Tourist Arrivals	1.15M	647.0K	77% higher	Costa Rica
Airports	132	76	74% higher	Costa Rica
Smoking Rate	8.9%	5.2%	71% higher	Costa Rica
Corruption Perceptions Index	56 pts	33 pts	70% higher	Costa Rica
Wind Electricity Share	12.1%	7.2%	69% higher	Costa Rica
Tobacco Use Prevalence	7.9% of adults	4.7% of adults	68% higher	Costa Rica
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	10 days/yr	30 days/yr	67% lower	Panama
Population Density	99.99 /km²	60.11 /km²	66% higher	Costa Rica
Doctors (per 1,000)	2.7 per 1k	1.6 per 1k	65% higher	Costa Rica
Armed Forces Personnel	10.0K	28.0K	64% lower	Panama
Nurses & Midwives	6.0 per 1k	3.8 per 1k	61% higher	Costa Rica
Political Corruption Index	0.21	0.48	58% lower	Panama
Domestic Patents	15	35	57% lower	Panama
GDP Growth Rate	4.3%	2.7%	57% higher	Costa Rica
Spirits Consumption	0.34 L/person/yr	0.78 L/person/yr	56% lower	Panama
Teen Birth Rate	26.25 per 1k	57.34 per 1k	54% lower	Panama
Homicide Rate	17.75 per 100k	11.71 per 100k	52% higher	Costa Rica
Coastline Length	1.3K km	2.5K km	48% lower	Panama
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	5.6% of GDP	3.7% of GDP	48% higher	Costa Rica
Foreign Patents	566	401	41% higher	Costa Rica
Liberal Democracy Index	0.81	0.57	41% higher	Costa Rica
CO2 Per Capita	1.7 t/person/yr	2.8 t/person/yr	39% lower	Panama
Beer Consumption	2.2 L/person/yr	3.5 L/person/yr	38% lower	Panama
Fertility Rate	1.4 children/woman	2.3 children/woman	38% lower	Panama
Informal Employment Share	36.11% of employed people	58.69% of employed people	38% lower	Panama
Hospital Beds (per 1,000)	1.2 per 1k	1.9 per 1k	37% lower	Panama
Birth Rate	10.86 per 1k	17.11 per 1k	37% lower	Panama
Health Spending Per Capita	$978.84	$1,472.05	34% lower	Panama
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	4.0 sites	6.0 sites	33% lower	Panama
Total CO2 Emissions	8.4 Mt CO2e	12.37 Mt CO2e	32% lower	Panama
Land Area	51.1K km²	74.2K km²	31% lower	Panama
Government Debt (% GDP)	48.9% of GDP	37.4% of GDP	31% higher	Costa Rica
Elderly Population (%)	12.23%	9.4%	31% higher	Costa Rica
Seafood Consumption per Person	17.85 kg/person/yr	13.74 kg/person/yr	30% higher	Costa Rica
Vehicles per 1,000 People	413.32 per 1k people	319.82 per 1k people	29% higher	Costa Rica
Broadband Access (%)	23 per 100 people	18 per 100 people	28% higher	Costa Rica
Alcohol Consumption	3.4 L/adult/yr	4.7 L/adult/yr	27% lower	Panama
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$30,062.85	$41,369.42	27% lower	Panama
Forest Area	30.8K km²	41.8K km²	26% lower	Panama
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	14.31 µg/m³	11.47 µg/m³	25% higher	Costa Rica
Youth Population (%)	18.8%	24.89%	24% lower	Panama
Credit Card Ownership	15.79% of adults	12.72% of adults	24% higher	Costa Rica
Women's Political Empowerment	0.91	0.74	22% higher	Costa Rica
Renewable Energy (%)	34.2%	28%	22% higher	Costa Rica
Child Mortality	10.5 per 1k births	13.3 per 1k births	21% lower	Panama
Unemployment Rate	7.8%	6.5%	20% higher	Costa Rica
Tourism Revenue	$1,479,000,000	$1,841,000,000	20% lower	Panama
Urban Population (%)	79.31%	66%	20% higher	Costa Rica
Average Weekly Work Hours	42.88 hrs/week	36.01 hrs/week	19% higher	Costa Rica
Meat Consumption per Person	53.56 kg/person/yr	65.02 kg/person/yr	18% lower	Panama
Electoral Democracy Index	0.86	0.73	18% higher	Costa Rica
Population	5.30M	4.54M	17% higher	Costa Rica
Imports (% GDP)	32.8% of GDP	39.32% of GDP	17% lower	Panama
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	16.21 per 1M people	13.89 per 1M people	17% higher	Costa Rica
Protected Land (%)	26.5%	31.4%	16% lower	Panama
Digital Payments Used	60.46% of adults	52.08% of adults	16% higher	Costa Rica
Electric Generating Capacity	3.75M kW	4.49M kW	16% lower	Panama
Median Age	34.1 years	29.6 years	15% higher	Costa Rica
Health Spending (% GDP)	7.2% of GDP	8.5% of GDP	15% lower	Panama
Dependency Ratio	44.98% of working-age pop.	52.09% of working-age pop.	14% lower	Panama
Life Evaluation Score	7.4 pts	6.5 pts	14% higher	Costa Rica
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	63.05 per 100k	72.6 per 100k	13% lower	Panama
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	136 per 100 people	157 per 100 people	13% lower	Panama
Exports (% GDP)	38.53% of GDP	44.36% of GDP	13% lower	Panama
GNI Per Capita	$15,620	$18,010	13% lower	Panama
Infant Mortality	9.2 per 1k births	10.6 per 1k births	13% lower	Panama
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	2.2K kWh/person	2.5K kWh/person	13% lower	Panama
Freedom of Expression Index	0.92	0.81	13% higher	Costa Rica
Agricultural Land (%)	33.14%	29.52%	12% higher	Costa Rica
Obesity Rate	31.97%	36.08%	11% lower	Panama
Sanitation Access (%)	98.79%	89.05%	11% higher	Costa Rica
GDP (Nominal)	$95,350,423,176.6	$86,523,959,131.75	10% higher	Costa Rica
Highest Elevation	3.8K m	3.5K m	10% higher	Costa Rica
Insufficient Physical Activity	49.32% of adults	54.63% of adults	10% lower	Panama
Internet Users (%)	85%	78%	9% higher	Costa Rica
Inequality (Gini)	45.8	49.7	8% lower	Panama
Hypertension Prevalence	38.9% of adults	36.1% of adults	8% higher	Costa Rica
Forest Coverage (%)	60.4%	56.34%	7% higher	Costa Rica
Death Rate	5.2 per 1k	5.5 per 1k	4% lower	Panama
Energy Use (Per Capita)	1.0K kg oil eq/person	1.1K kg oil eq/person	4% lower	Panama
Land Border Length	661 km	687 km	4% lower	Panama
Electricity Generation	12.38 TWh	12.87 TWh	4% lower	Panama
Electricity Access (%)	100%	97%	3% higher	Costa Rica
Life Expectancy	80.8 years	79.6 years	2% higher	Costa Rica
Human Development Index	0.83	0.84	1% lower	Panama
Youth Unemployment Rate	19.95% of youth labor force	19.77% of youth labor force	1% higher	Costa Rica
Can Raise Emergency Money	85.71% of adults	84.87% of adults	1% higher	Costa Rica
Time Zones Count	2.0 time zones	2.0 time zones	equal	Costa Rica
Coal Electricity Share	0%	3.7%	ranked lower	Panama
Inflation Rate	-0.4%	0.70%	ranked lower	Panama
Women in Senior Management	46.21% of managers	46.05% of managers	equal	Costa Rica
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0.19 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked higher	Costa Rica
Lowest Elevation	0 m	0 m	ranked higher	Costa Rica
Official Languages Count	1.0	1.0	equal	Costa Rica
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	-0.7% of GDP	0.30% of GDP	ranked lower	Panama
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	1.0 gold medals	1.0 gold medals	equal	Costa Rica
All-Time Olympic Medals	4.0 medals	4.0 medals	equal	Costa Rica
Food Waste per Person	157.86 kg/person/yr	158.59 kg/person/yr	equal	Panama
Border Neighbors	2.0	2.0	equal	Costa Rica

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Costa Rica Panama

Analysis

Costa Rica leads in 68 of 120 shared metrics, while Panama leads in 52.

Costa Rica's Capital Elevation is 57.0x that of Panama (1.2K m vs 20 m).

Costa Rica's High-Tech Exports (%) is 11.9x that of Panama (22.86% vs 1.8%).

Costa Rica's EV Chargers per 100,000 People is 7.5x that of Panama (2.1 per 100k people vs 0.24 per 100k people).

Costa Rica's Railway Length is 2.6x that of Panama (278 km vs 77 km).

Costa Rica's Water Stress (%) is 2.4x that of Panama (3.1% vs 0.89%).

Key Comparisons

Capital ElevationCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

1.2K m

Panama

20 m

High-Tech Exports (%)Costa Rica leads

Costa Rica

22.86%

Panama

1.8%

Costa Rica

2.1 per 100k people

Panama

0.24 per 100k people

Railway LengthCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

278 km

Panama

77 km

Water Stress (%)Costa Rica leads

Costa Rica

3.1%

Panama

0.89%

Water WithdrawalCosta Rica leads

Costa Rica

3.4 B m³

Panama

1.2 B m³

Capital Elevation

1.2K m

20 m

High-Tech Exports (%)

22.86%

1.8%

2.1 per 100k people

0.24 per 100k people

Railway Length

278 km

77 km

Water Stress (%)

3.1%

0.89%

Water Withdrawal

3.4 B m³

1.2 B m³

Milk Consumption per Person

183.28 kg/person/yr

70.29 kg/person/yr

Irrigated Land

1.0K km²

394 km²

Education Spending (% GDP)

6.2% of GDP

2.5% of GDP

Suicide Rate

8.1 per 100k

3.3 per 100k

Women in Parliament (%)

49.12%

21.43%

R&D Spending (% GDP)

0.34% of GDP

0.16% of GDP

Road Traffic Death Rate

15.5 per 100k

7.3 per 100k

Merchant Fleet Size

8.2K

Solar Electricity Share

0.70%

7.4%

Scientific Publications

711.36

376.12

Electricity Carbon Intensity

24.2 gCO2/kWh

221.15 gCO2/kWh

Air Passengers

1.97M

15.75M

Tax Revenue (% GDP)

13.91% of GDP

7.5% of GDP

Researchers

462.47 per 1M

253.27 per 1M

Costa Rica vs Panama

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Costa Rica

Panama

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Capital Elevation

High-Tech Exports (%)

EV Chargers per 100,000 People

Railway Length

Water Stress (%)

Water Withdrawal

Milk Consumption per Person

Irrigated Land

Education Spending (% GDP)

Suicide Rate

Women in Parliament (%)

R&D Spending (% GDP)

Road Traffic Death Rate

Merchant Fleet Size

Solar Electricity Share

Scientific Publications

Electricity Carbon Intensity

Air Passengers

Tax Revenue (% GDP)

Researchers

Shipping Traffic

Tourist Arrivals

Airports

Smoking Rate

Corruption Perceptions Index

Wind Electricity Share

Tobacco Use Prevalence

Minimum Paid Vacation Days

Population Density

Doctors (per 1,000)

Armed Forces Personnel

Nurses & Midwives

Political Corruption Index

Domestic Patents

GDP Growth Rate

Spirits Consumption

Teen Birth Rate

Homicide Rate

Coastline Length

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

Foreign Patents

Liberal Democracy Index

CO2 Per Capita

Beer Consumption

Fertility Rate

Informal Employment Share

Hospital Beds (per 1,000)

Birth Rate

Health Spending Per Capita

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Total CO2 Emissions

Land Area

Government Debt (% GDP)

Elderly Population (%)

Seafood Consumption per Person

Vehicles per 1,000 People

Broadband Access (%)

Alcohol Consumption

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

Forest Area

Air Pollution (PM2.5)

Youth Population (%)

Credit Card Ownership

Women's Political Empowerment

Renewable Energy (%)

Child Mortality

Unemployment Rate

Tourism Revenue

Urban Population (%)

Average Weekly Work Hours

Meat Consumption per Person

Electoral Democracy Index