Costa Rica vs Paraguay

Costa Rica scores 54.7 in the NationsTree Index (71st in the world) and Paraguay scores 39.1 (132nd), a gap of 15.6 points. Their trees are 7.9 m and 6.7 m tall; tree height grows with real GDP and is adjusted by the index.

Paraguay has 36% more people than Costa Rica. Paraguay is 8.0 times larger than Costa Rica by land area. The economy of Costa Rica is 23% larger than that of Paraguay (GDP at purchasing power parity). Population: Costa Rica 5.2 million and Paraguay 7.0 million (2025).

GDP per person at purchasing power parity is $33,815 in Costa Rica and $20,181 in Paraguay (2025, international dollars). People in Costa Rica live on average 7.0 years longer (81.0 vs 74.0 years).

Of 37 indicators reported by both countries, Costa Rica ranks higher in the world on 25 and Paraguay on 12. Costa Rica is clearly stronger in institutions & safety, tourism and society & health. Paraguay is clearly stronger in military.

As a nation, Paraguay is the older of the two (statehood since 1811, 215 years), compared with Costa Rica (since 1821). Over the last five years Costa Rica improved faster (direction score 50 vs 12 out of 100).