🇨🇷 Costa Rica vs 🇧🇪 Belgium
Side by side on the data that actually changes your life: prices, taxes, climate, air, safety. Every number has a source and a date.
Climate (capital)
Open-Meteo historical weather
Jan 20° · Jul 21° · San José
Jan 3° · Jul 20° · Brussels
Sunny days (capital)
Open-Meteo, days with over 4.5h of sunshine
341 days / yr
261 days / yr
Air quality (capital)
WAQI, capital station
AQI 21 · Good
—
Big Mac price
The Economist Big Mac index (euro-area countries share one euro-area price)
$6.04
—
Employment taxes (not your rate)
OECD tax wedge, single average worker
~28% of what a job costs goes to tax (2025)
—
Special tax regimes
Official tax authorities, verified June 2026
Territorial taxation
Inbound taxpayers & researchers regime
Inflation
World Bank
-0.1% / yr (2025)
2.5% / yr (2025)
Unemployment
World Bank, ILO-modelled estimate
6.8% (2025)
5.9% (2025)
Internet (median fixed)
Ookla Speedtest Global Index
—
~130 Mbps
English proficiency
EF English Proficiency Index
—
very high
Messenger apps
OONI network measurements, last 6 months
No known issues
No known issues
Safety advisory
U.S. State Department travel advisory
Level 2 · Exercise Increased Caution
—
Population
World Bank total population
5.2M (2025)
11.9M (2025)
Population density
World Bank, people per km²
100 / km² (2023)
386 / km² (2023)
Foreign-born residents
World Bank migrant stock
12.2% of population (2024)
20.0% of population (2024)
Life expectancy
WHO
79 yrs
82 yrs
Currency
ISO 4217
CRC
EUR
Timezone (capital)
Open-Meteo
UTC-6
—
Crypto-friendly
Crypto-friendly
Short-term gains
0%
33%
Long-term gains
0%
10%
Long-term holding period
—
—
Staking income
—
33%
Mining income
—
33%
General rates, not personal tax advice.
Climate, inflation and life expectancy verified 12 July 2026. Prices, taxes and air quality verified 7 July 2026. Sources shown per row.
Bottom line: which should you choose?
Pick 🇨🇷 Costa Rica if you want
more sunshine.
Based only on the sourced metrics above. Visa eligibility and paperwork depend on your passport — build a free plan for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Costa Rica over Belgium?
On the data we track, Costa Rica comes out ahead for more sunshine. Every figure has a source in the table above.
Special tax regimes, verified
Regimes change often and many sites still advertise closed ones. We link the official source for each.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Foreign-source income untaxed
Verified June 2026 · Ministerio de Hacienda
🇧🇪 Belgium
Up to 30% of gross salary as a tax-free expat allowance
Verified June 2026 · SPF Finances
Numbers are half the story
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