Costa Rica vs Puerto Rico (US)

Puerto Rico (US) scores 55.9 in the NationsTree Index (66th in the world) and Costa Rica scores 54.7 (71st), a gap of 1.2 points. Their trees are 7.9 m and 7.9 m tall; tree height grows with real GDP and is adjusted by the index.

Costa Rica has 62% more people than Puerto Rico (US). Costa Rica is 5.8 times larger than Puerto Rico (US) by land area. Costa Rica and Puerto Rico (US) have economies of similar size (GDP at purchasing power parity). Population: Costa Rica 5.2 million and Puerto Rico (US) 3.2 million (2025).

GDP per person at purchasing power parity is $52,196 in Puerto Rico (US) and $33,815 in Costa Rica (2025, international dollars). People in Puerto Rico (US) live on average 0.9 years longer (81.9 vs 81.0 years).

Of 26 indicators reported by both countries, Costa Rica ranks higher in the world on 11 and Puerto Rico (US) on 15. Costa Rica is clearly stronger in natural resources, institutions & safety and environment & energy. Puerto Rico (US) is clearly stronger in tourism, infrastructure & digital and society & health.

As a nation, Costa Rica is the older of the two (statehood since 1821, 205 years), compared with Puerto Rico (US) (since 1898). Over the last five years Costa Rica improved faster (direction score 50 vs 39 out of 100).