Healthcare in Costa Rica

The effectiveness of the health care system in Costa Rica is well above average in a global comparison.

Probably the most important indicator that can be used to summarize the efficiency of all measures is general life expectancy. In other words, the theoretical age that a newborn child could potentially reach today. At the moment this age in Costa Rica is 77.5 years for men and 82.7 years for women. For comparison: worldwide life expectancy is about 7.5 years lower (men: 70.4 / women: 74.9 years).

In total, the sum of 909.67 USD is spent per year and inhabitant. This corresponds to approximately 7.6% of the gross domestic product. Internationally, this amount averages 1,110.84 USD (~ 9.8% of the respective GDP).

Back to overview: Costa Rica

Distribution of the corona virus

Spread of the corona virus in Costa Rica

Currently: 16.4 new infections per day per 100,000 inhabitants
By April 12th, 2021, 222544 infected persons and 3018 deaths have been reported in the country. The first confirmed infections were reported in March 2020, which is the date of the official notification. An additional 10-14 days are calculated for noticing one's own infection, the doctor's appointment, the laboratory test and, above all, the period from the infection until the first symptoms appear.

The total of 222,544 infected people represent 4.4% of the country's total population. The number of new infections during the 14th calendar week (04/05/2021 to 04/11/2021) was 5,780 , representing 16.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per day.

The first graph shows the number of reported infections per calendar week. The second graph below the number of deaths.

Mortality rate of infected persons

From the previously infected and deceased people, in Costa Rica results in a mortality rate of 1.4%. However, it should be borne in mind that death occurs an average of 19 days after the first symptoms appear. The time of the actual infection is therefore followed by several days until a person affected has a medical test carried out and the results are available.

Due to the current corona pandemic, we update the worldwide case numbers weekly. A list of all infected and dead people by country can be found on our Corona virus topic page.

Current development

Calendar week	Infected	Deaths
14/2021	5,780	61
13/2021	1,586	26
12/2021	3,275	35
11/2021	1,456	10
10/2021	2,987	45
09/2021	2,374	29
08/2021	2,412	30
07/2021	2,650	52
06/2021	2,589	38
05/2021	2,866	58

Weight and size

	Male	Female
Body height	174 cm	160 cm
BMI	26.8	28.0
Weight	80.9 kg	71.7 kg

Diseases

	Costa Rica	Ø worldwide
Diabetes *	9.10%	8.81%
Tuberculosis	0.01%	0.13%
Malaria	0.0%	5.7%
HIV / Aids	0.03%	0.04%

* The number of people suffering from diabetes refers only to inhabitants aged between 20 and 79 years.

Child vaccinations

	Costa Rica	Ø worldwide
Measles	95.0%	85.7%
Hepatitis B	0.10%	0.09%
DTP *	9.50%	8.57%

* DTP is a three times combined basic vaccination against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus, which should be given to children up to the age of 23 months.

In Costa Rica, 9.8% of all over 15-year-olds are still smokers.
7 percent of newborns are underweight.

Medical supplies

Medical care provided by doctors and hospitals in Costa Rica is below average compared to the world population. The country provides 1.2 hospital beds per 1000 inhabitants. The global mean here is 2.7 beds. Within the EU, 5.6 beds are available for every 1,000 residents.

With about 5,800 physicians in Costa Rica, there are about 1.15 doctors per 1000 inhabitants. Here again the comparison: worldwide this standard is 1.50 physicians per 1000 inhabitants and in the EU even 3.57.

Through medical care, the mortality of major known diseases can be reduced to an above-average extent. For example, only about 12 percent of all people who suffer from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or chylomicron retention disease (CRD) currently die.

Supply with drinking water

About 94 percent of the population has access to an immediately available, running drinking water supply. At least via springs and wells at a distance of no more than 30 minutes or supplied water, 100% of the population is supplied with largely clean drinking water. The population is thus better served than average. In a global comparison, only about 71% of the population has direct access to tested and always available drinking water. Within the European Union, this share is 97%. Only in a few countries does the proportion fall below 10%.

Sources

Above data correspond to the information of the World Health Organization, Global Health Workforce Statistics, UNICEF, State of the World's Children, Childinfo, Global Health Observatory Data Repository and OECD. The case numbers for the spread of the corona virus come from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).