Costa Rica vs Panama
Costa Rica has 13% more people than Panama: 5,152,950 vs 4,571,189, a gap of 581,761. Panama is growing faster (+1.22% vs +0.45% a year), adding about 55,953 people a year against +23,092. Using continuous exponential growth from the stated base year, if these rates held, Panama would overtake Costa Rica in about 15 years (from the 2025 population bases, around 2040) — a projection, not a forecast. Costa Rica is the older society: 12.8% aged 65+ against 9.7% in Panama, while Panama has more children (24.5% under 15 vs 18.3%). Costa Rica is 1.7× as densely populated (100.0 vs 60.1 people per km²). People in Costa Rica live 1.2 years longer on average (81.0 vs 79.8).
Country/territory population bases: World Bank 2025 (Costa Rica) and 2025 (Panama); growth years 2025 / 2025. Annual source values, not live counts; years may differ. Growth is national, not local.
Costa Rica vs Panama — side by side
 Costa Rica |  Panama | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,152,9502025 | 4,571,1892025 |
| Growth rate / yr | +0.45%2025 | +1.22%2025 |
| Births per 1,000 | 10.02024 | 15.92024 |
| Deaths per 1,000 | 5.62024 | 4.92024 |
| Children per woman | 1.322024 | 2.112024 |
| Life expectancy | 81.0 yrs2024 | 79.8 yrs2024 |
| Aged 0–14 | 18.3%2025 | 24.5%2025 |
| Aged 65+ | 12.8%2025 | 9.7%2025 |
| Density | 100.0 /km²2023 | 60.1 /km²2023 |
| Area | 51,100 km²2023 | 75,320 km²2023 |
| Urban population | 79.7%2025 | 66.2%2025 |
| Net migration / yr | +1,0002025 | +6,1512025 |
| GDP per capita | $19,9702025 | $19,7902025 |
| Country population rank (available records) | #126 | #128 |
| 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; Panama: 4.1× from 1960 to 2025. Left: absolute population. Right: each series indexed to its own first available year = 100; baseline years may differ.
More comparisons
Region: Latin America & Caribbean · 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.
Panama: Panama vs Mauritania, Panama vs Costa Rica, Panama vs Kuwait, Panama vs Georgia, Panama vs Croatia, Panama vs Eritrea.
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