NDI
HomeCountriesCosta Rica
Country profile · Latin America & Caribbean

Mortality in Costa Rica, by the numbers

Costa Rica sits in Latin America & Caribbean. A newborn there can expect about 81.0 years of life, 46th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for Costa Rica, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
81.0 yrs
46th of 212
Premature NCD mortality
9.9 %
22nd lowest of 182
Life expectancy at 60
23.5 yrs
23rd highest of 182

16 measures · sources: World Bank Open Data and WHO Global Health Observatory (Global Health Estimates 2021) · latest available year per figure

How Costa Rica ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 81.0 yrs 46 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 4.8 /1,000 151 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 5.6 /1,000 171 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 23.5 yrs 23 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 51.6 /1,000 126 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 5.2 yrs 88 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 82.2 men/100 women 125 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 9.1 /1,000 115 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 24.0 /100k 117 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 9.9 % 161 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 8.1 /100k 78 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 14.8 /100k 95 of 187 2019
Recorded alcohol per adult 3.4 L 111 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 12.2 % 79 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $1,163 60 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $18,587 77 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, Costa Rica's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 22nd lowest premature NCD mortality in the world (9.9 %) and the 23rd highest life expectancy at 60 in the world (23.5 yrs). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for Costa Rica; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.