Costa Rica vs New Zealand
New Zealand has 3% more people than Costa Rica: 5,324,700 vs 5,152,950, a gap of 171,750. New Zealand is growing faster (+0.65% vs +0.45% a year), adding about 34,814 people a year against +23,092. At these source-year rates the modelled relative population gap is widening. New Zealand is the older society: 17.6% aged 65+ against 12.8% in Costa Rica, while Costa Rica has more children (18.3% under 15 vs 17.9%). Costa Rica is 5.1× as densely populated (100.0 vs 19.7 people per km²). People in New Zealand live 1.0 years longer on average (82.0 vs 81.0). GDP per capita is 2.5× higher in New Zealand ($49,591 vs $19,970).
Country/territory population bases: World Bank 2025 (Costa Rica) and 2025 (New Zealand); growth years 2025 / 2025. Annual source values, not live counts; years may differ. Growth is national, not local.
Costa Rica vs New Zealand — side by side
 Costa Rica |  New Zealand | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,152,9502025 | 5,324,7002025 |
| Growth rate / yr | +0.45%2025 | +0.65%2025 |
| Births per 1,000 | 10.02024 | 11.02024 |
| Deaths per 1,000 | 5.62024 | 7.12024 |
| Children per woman | 1.322024 | 1.572024 |
| Life expectancy | 81.0 yrs2024 | 82.0 yrs2024 |
| Aged 0–14 | 18.3%2025 | 17.9%2025 |
| Aged 65+ | 12.8%2025 | 17.6%2025 |
| Density | 100.0 /km²2023 | 19.7 /km²2023 |
| Area | 51,100 km²2023 | 267,710 km²2023 |
| Urban population | 79.7%2025 | 84.0%2025 |
| Net migration / yr | +1,0002025 | +17,4032025 |
| GDP per capita | $19,9702025 | $49,5912025 |
| Country population rank (available records) | #126 | #124 |
| 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; New Zealand: 2.2× 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 · East Asia & Pacific · 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.
New Zealand: New Zealand vs Ireland, New Zealand vs Slovakia, New Zealand vs Palestine, New Zealand vs Mauritania, New Zealand vs Costa Rica, New Zealand vs Kuwait.
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