Life in Curacao
Latin America & Caribbean · high-income · capital Willemstad
World Bank country code CUW · ISO CW · Data sources
Live a life in Curacao
Start from this country's own statistics — its mortality curve, its income level, its school system — and play the years out: what happens if you leave school at fifteen, or take the job that is offered, or move to the capital.
Start a life in CuracaoThe statistics behind the simulation
Each figure shows the year it was observed. A missing row means the World Bank does not report that indicator for Curacao — not that the value is zero.
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
Life expectancy at birth The average number of years a newborn would live if the year's mortality rates held for their whole life. | 77.0 years | 2024 |
Fertility rate The average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime. | 1.40 | 2024 |
GDP per capita (PPP) Purchasing-power-adjusted output per person — the best single measure of how much a person in this country can buy. | $32,741 | 2024 |
Government education spending Public spending on education as a share of total output. | 5.4% | 2024 |
Urban population The share of people living in urban areas. | 91.4% | 2024 |
Population Total population. | 155,967 | 2024 |
Birth rate Crude birth rate: births per 1,000 population per year. | 7.2 | 2024 |
Secondary school enrolment Total enrolment in secondary school, regardless of age, as a percentage of the official age group. | 89.9% | 2024 |
What these numbers mean
A newborn in Curacao can expect to live 77.0 years, above the dataset median of 74.7 years. Output per person, adjusted for purchasing power, is $32,741 (2024) — which places the country in the middle of this dataset on purchasing power, and it is what sets the scale of every income the simulation can offer. The fertility rate is 1.40 births per woman (2024) — below replacement level, so the simulation's households tend to be small. Public spending on education is 5.4% of output (2024), which is the share of national resources the simulation's schooling decisions are competing for. 91.4% of people live in urban areas (2024), so starting in a city or the capital is the usual case rather than the exception.
In the simulation, income is expressed as a share of what an average worker in Curacao earns, so the same household choice buys very different amounts in different countries. Median output per person across this dataset is $21,026.
Other countries in Latin America & Caribbean
- British Virgin Islands77.4 yrs · 2024
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)76.5 yrs · 2024
- Aruba76.5 yrs · 2024
- Argentina77.5 yrs · 2024
- Ecuador77.6 yrs · 2024
- Barbados76.3 yrs · 2024
- Antigua and Barbuda77.8 yrs · 2024
- Colombia77.9 yrs · 2024
- Peru77.9 yrs · 2024
- Brazil76.0 yrs · 2024
- Turks and Caicos Islands78.2 yrs · 2024
- Cuba78.3 yrs · 2024
Where Curacao sits within Latin America & Caribbean
Of the 42 countries in Latin America & Caribbean that report life expectancy, Curacao sits above the regional median, at 77.0 years against a regional median of 75.7. 16 countries report a higher figure and 25 report a lower one.
| Indicator | Curacao | Latin America & Caribbean median | Latin America & Caribbean range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 77.0 | 75.7 | 65.1 – 81.9 |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $32,741 | $26,701 | $3,169 – $92,201 |
| Fertility rate | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 – 2.7 |
| Urban population | 91.4% | 71.8% | 24.4% – 100.0% |
| Education spending | 5.4% | 3.9% | 1.0% – 8.4% |
Ranges cover every country in the region that reports the indicator, in the year each country last reported it. Medians are unweighted, so a large country and a small one count the same.
Where Curacao shows up in the topics
These pages put Curacao's figures next to the other 216 countries, for the indicators that shape the decisions in the simulation.
- Child marriage around the worldFertility rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Gender and schooling around the worldAdult literacy rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Child labour statistics by countrySecondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate · Poverty rate
- Schooling costs and enrolment by countryGovernment education spending · Secondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate
- Fertility and family size by countryFertility rate · Birth rate · Maternal mortality
- Marriage and family life by countryFertility rate · Female labour-force participation · Life expectancy at birth
About these figures
The statistics above are national averages from the World Bank Open Data, retrieved 2026-11-01 and released under World Bank data is released under CC BY 4.0. National averages do not describe any individual life, and this page does not rank Curacao against other countries. Life expectancy reflects a country's mortality conditions as a whole, which include healthcare access, income distribution, nutrition, sanitation and public safety — the simulation uses it as a risk curve, not as a measure of the people who live there.