Costa Rica vs Nicaragua: Economic Indicators Comparison
Costa Rica with a GDP of $60.1B ranked the 77th largest economy in the world, while Nicaragua ranked 133rd with $13.1B. By GDP 5-years average growth and GDP per capita, Costa Rica and Nicaragua ranked 70th vs 91st and 65th vs 148th, respectively.
Gross Domestic Product & Income
| Stat |  Costa Rica |  Nicaragua |
|---|---|---|
| GDP | $60.1B | $13.1B |
| GDP growth, 1 year | 2.7% | -4% |
| GDP growth, 5-years average | 3.5% | 3% |
| Population | 4.9M | 6.2M |
| GDP per capita | $12k | $2k |
| GDP per capita growth | 1.62% | -5.02% |
| Purchasing Power Parity conversion factor | 392.7 | 11.57 |
| Price level ratio of PPP conversion factor GDP to market exchange rate | 0.68 | 0.37 |
| GDP per capita, PPP adjusted | $18k | $5.7k |
| GNI, Atlas method | $57.6B | $13.1B |
| GNI per capita | $12k | $2k |
| GNI, PPP adjusted | $83.5B | $34.9B |
| GNI per capita, PPP adjusted | $17k | $5.4k |
Financial system and Human development
| Stat | Costa Rica | Nicaragua |
|---|---|---|
| Income Tax Rate | 25% | 30% |
| Corporate Tax Rate | 30% | 30% |
| Inflation, consumer prices | 2.3% | 5% |
| Inflation, GDP deflator | 2.4% | 3.4% |
| Unemployment | 8.1% | 4.5% |
| Economic Freedom Index | 65.8 | 57.2 |
| Personal Freedom Index | 8.28 | 7.41 |
| Human Freedom Index | 7.81 | 7.22 |
| Property Rights Index | 66.7 | 33.5 |
| Judical Effectiveness Index | 54.4 | 19.5 |
| Business Freedom Index | 66.5 | 55.1 |
| Fiscal Health Index | 39.7 | 87.2 |
| Labor Freedom Index | 55 | 55.5 |
| Investment Freedom Index | 70 | 60 |
| Financial Freedom Index | 50 | 50 |
| Trade Freedom Index | 81.4 | 75.4 |
| Monetary Freedom Index | 81.2 | 71.5 |
| Government Spending Index | 88.4 | 77.5 |
| Tax Burden Index | 78.9 | 76.3 |
| Government Integrity Index | 57.2 | 24.3 |
| Corruption Perceptions Index | 56 | 25 |
| Life expectancy at birth, years | 79.9 | 74.1 |
| Suicide mortality rate, per 100,000 people | 7.9 | 12.2 |
| Mortality caused by road traffic injury, per 100,000 people | 16.7 | 15.3 |
| Intentional homicides, per 100,000 people | 12.3 | 7.4 |
| International tourism, number of arrivals | 3M | 1.3M |
Government debt & reserves
| Stat | Costa Rica | Nicaragua |
|---|---|---|
| Central government debt, % of GDP | 53.5% | 37.2% |
| External debt stocks, % of GNI | 49% | 90.7% |
| External debt stocks | $27.8B | $11.6B |
| Short-term debt, % of total reserves | 44.9% | 60.3% |
| Total debt service, % of exports and primary income | 18.3% | 19% |
| Adjusted net savings including particulate emission damage, % of GNI | 15.9% | 14.4% |
| Gross savings, % of GDP | 14.7% | 23.6% |
| Gross capital formation, % of GDP | 19% | 22.9% |
| Total reserves including gold | $7.5B | $2.3B |
| Foreign direct investment net inflows | $2.8B | $359.2M |
Exports, imports and economic structure
| Stat | Costa Rica | Nicaragua |
|---|---|---|
| Exports of goods and services, % of GDP | 33.7% | 42% |
| Imports of goods and services, % of GDP | 33.2% | 51.3% |
| Current account balance (balance of payments) | -$1.9B | $83M |
| Revenue excluding grants, % of GDP | 25.2% | 16.8% |
| Grants excluding technical cooperation, BoP | $26.1M | $162.6M |
| Personal remittances received | $533.5M | $1.5B |
| Industry including construction value added, % of GDP | 19.5% | 25.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing value added, % of GDP | 4.6% | 15.5% |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments BoP | $565.2M | $1.9M |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts BoP | $5.9M | N/A |
| Expense, % of GDP | 30% | 16.7% |
| Government Expenditure, % of GDP | 19.7% | 27.4% |
