Costa Rica vs Mauritania
Mauritania has 3% more people than Costa Rica: 5,315,065 vs 5,152,950, a gap of 162,115. Mauritania is growing faster (+2.78% vs +0.45% a year), adding about 147,703 people a year against +23,092. At these source-year rates the modelled relative population gap is widening. Costa Rica is the older society: 12.8% aged 65+ against 3.2% in Mauritania, while Mauritania has more children (42.4% under 15 vs 18.3%). Costa Rica is 20.5× as densely populated (100.0 vs 4.9 people per km²). People in Costa Rica live 12.3 years longer on average (81.0 vs 68.7). GDP per capita is 9.1× higher in Costa Rica ($19,970 vs $2,198).
Country/territory population bases: World Bank 2025 (Costa Rica) and 2025 (Mauritania); growth years 2025 / 2025. Annual source values, not live counts; years may differ. Growth is national, not local.
Costa Rica vs Mauritania — side by side
 Costa Rica |  Mauritania | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,152,9502025 | 5,315,0652025 |
| Growth rate / yr | +0.45%2025 | +2.78%2025 |
| Births per 1,000 | 10.02024 | 34.02024 |
| Deaths per 1,000 | 5.62024 | 5.42024 |
| Children per woman | 1.322024 | 4.622024 |
| Life expectancy | 81.0 yrs2024 | 68.7 yrs2024 |
| Aged 0–14 | 18.3%2025 | 42.4%2025 |
| Aged 65+ | 12.8%2025 | 3.2%2025 |
| Density | 100.0 /km²2023 | 4.9 /km²2023 |
| Area | 51,100 km²2023 | 1,030,700 km²2023 |
| Urban population | 79.7%2025 | 61.5%2025 |
| Net migration / yr | +1,0002025 | -5,0442025 |
| GDP per capita | $19,9702025 | $2,1982025 |
| Country population rank (available records) | #126 | #125 |
| Base / world population (World Bank 2025) | 0.06% | 0.06% |
Highlighted cell = the higher value (not "better"). Small print under each value is its own data year. Source: World Bank; country/territory population bases may have different years. These are not live counts.
Population since 1960
World Bank population history (not the separate UN WPP timeline). Costa Rica: 3.9× from 1960 to 2025; Mauritania: 6.4× from 1960 to 2025. Left: absolute population. Right: each series indexed to its own first available year = 100; baseline years may differ.
More comparisons
Regions: Latin America & Caribbean · Sub-Saharan Africa · rankings
Costa Rica: Costa Rica vs Palestine, Costa Rica vs New Zealand, Costa Rica vs Mauritania, Costa Rica vs Kuwait, Costa Rica vs Panama, Costa Rica vs Georgia.
Mauritania: Mauritania vs Slovakia, Mauritania vs Palestine, Mauritania vs New Zealand, Mauritania vs Costa Rica, Mauritania vs Kuwait, Mauritania vs Panama.
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