# Costa Rica and Nicaragua compared Costa Rica and Nicaragua side by side: 40 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 1 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/cri-vs-nic Updated: 2026-08-11 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Costa Rica: 1821 — Costa Rica declares independence from Spain with the Central American provinces - Nicaragua: 1821 — Nicaragua declares independence from Spain with the Central American provinces ## Economy | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $95 B | 2024 | $20 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $18,587 | 2024 | $2,848 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 4.3% | 2024 | 3.6% | 2024 | | Inflation | -0.4% | 2024 | 4.6% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 71.3% | 2024 | 98.5% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 5.1 m | 2024 | 6.9 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 81.0 yrs | 2024 | 75.1 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 79.3% | 2024 | 59.3% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.3 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 74.6 | 2024 | 26.8 | 2024 | | Political stability | 86.0 | 2024 | 64.7 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 56.9 | 2024 | 30.9 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 64.0 | 2024 | 39.2 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 67.6 | 2024 | 29.1 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 61.6 | 2024 | 18.9 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 6.9% | 2023 | 8.3% | 2023 | | Physicians | 2.69 | 2022 | 0.68 | 2018 | | Under-5 mortality | 10.4 | 2024 | 11.2 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 93.0% | 2024 | 85.0% | 2023 | | Safe drinking water | 80.5% | 2024 | — | — | ## Education | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 97.4% | 2011 | 87.3% | 2014 | | Education spending | 5.3% | 2023 | 2.9% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 104.8% | 2024 | 109.5% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 121.8% | 2024 | 70.2% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 55.0% | 2019 | 30.4% | 2023 | ## Technology | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.3% | 2023 | 0.1% | 2015 | | Researchers (per million) | 508 | 2023 | — | — | | Internet users | 87.2% | 2024 | 61.4% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 136 | 2024 | 106 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 22.9% | 2024 | 0.6% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 51,060 km² | 2023 | 120,340 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 60.4% | 2023 | 25.8% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 33.1% | 2023 | 42.3% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 1.6 | 2024 | 0.8 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 34.2% | 2021 | 50.4% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 3.8% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 2.7% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 1.1% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 88.3% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Costa Rica | Observed | Nicaragua | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Defense spending | $0 | 2024 | $105 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 10,000 | 2020 | 12,000 | 2020 | | Military burden | — | — | 0.5% | 2024 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CRI.md and https://terralore.co/country/NIC.md. ## Entangled histories (1 event) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 2000 CE: **San Juan navigation dispute settled** — Costa Rica and Nicaragua resolve a long-standing quarrel over navigation on the river that forms their border. (from the Costa Rica chronicle; sources: Costa Rica country profile) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CRI/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/NIC/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Costa Rica and Nicaragua compared", terralore.co/compare/cri-vs-nic, retrieved .