Costa Rica vs United States of America: Potential years of life lost

Costa Rica
6,387 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2023
United States of America
6,994 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2023
Costa Rica rank
10th
United States of America rank
7th

Potential years of life lost over time

  • Costa Rica
  • United States of America
5.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k196019912023

How they compare

United States of America currently reports 6,994 Years per 100 000 persons against 6,387 Years per 100 000 persons in Costa Rica, a difference of 607 Years per 100 000 persons.

That makes United States of America's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 62 shared years of data; in 1961 it was Costa Rica ahead.

Costa Rica ranks 10th and United States of America ranks 7th of 36 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 2 and United States of America in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade Costa Rica United States of America Difference Ahead
1960s 18,648 Years per 100 000 persons 12,973 Years per 100 000 persons 5,674 Years per 100 000 persons Costa Rica
1970s 13,084 Years per 100 000 persons 11,322 Years per 100 000 persons 1,762 Years per 100 000 persons Costa Rica
1980s 8,592 Years per 100 000 persons 9,159 Years per 100 000 persons 566.76 Years per 100 000 persons United States of America
1990s 7,225 Years per 100 000 persons 8,113 Years per 100 000 persons 888.08 Years per 100 000 persons United States of America
2000s 5,904 Years per 100 000 persons 6,934 Years per 100 000 persons 1,030 Years per 100 000 persons United States of America
2010s 5,637 Years per 100 000 persons 6,325 Years per 100 000 persons 688.71 Years per 100 000 persons United States of America
2020s 6,339 Years per 100 000 persons 7,520 Years per 100 000 persons 1,181 Years per 100 000 persons United States of America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher potential years of life lost, Costa Rica or United States of America?
United States of America, at 6,994 Years per 100 000 persons against 6,387 Years per 100 000 persons in Costa Rica as of 2023.
What is the difference in potential years of life lost between Costa Rica and United States of America?
607 Years per 100 000 persons, with United States of America ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and United States of America?
62 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 2023.
How do Costa Rica and United States of America rank globally for potential years of life lost?
Costa Rica ranks 10th and United States of America ranks 7th of 36 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Potential years of life lost. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Costa Rica vs United States of America: Potential years of life lost. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/potential-years-of-life-lost/costa-rica/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator
Potential years of life lost
Unit
Years per 100 000 persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,490 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) is a summary measure of premature mortality which provides an explicit way of weighting deaths occurring at younger ages, which are, a priori, preventable. The calculation of PYLL involves summing up deaths occurring at each age and multiplying this with the number of remaining years to live up to a selected age limit. The limit of 75 years has been chosen for the calculations in OECD Health Statistics. The selected ICD categories presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.