North America · Willemstad
Cost of living in Curacao
Curacao is 29% cheaper than the US, ranking #43 of 203 countries we cover for cost of living.
World Bank data through 2024 · last reviewed 2026-06.
What drives the cost here
Price levels by category, where the world average = 100. Above 100 is pricier than the global norm; below it is cheaper.
In Curacao, communication is the priciest category relative to the world (160), while health is the most affordable (91).
Category price levels: World Bank ICP 2021 (world average = 100) · source
What your money is worth here
A $100,000 US lifestyle would cost roughly $71,000 in Curacao.
Quality of life
Beyond cost — health, safety, and connectivity. The score is a transparent, equal-weight composite of the verified metrics below (see methodology).
About Curacao
The original Arawak Indian settlers who arrived on Curaçao from South America in about A.D. 1000 were largely enslaved by the Spanish early in the 16th century and forcibly relocated to other colonies where labor was needed. The Dutch seized Curaçao from the Spanish in 1634. Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, Curaçao was hard hit economically when the Dutch abolished slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of the Isla Refineria to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oilfields.
Read the full background
In 1954, Curaçao and several other Dutch Caribbean colonies were reorganized as the Netherlands Antilles, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In referenda in 2005 and 2009, the citizens of Curaçao voted to become a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The change in status became effective in 2010 with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
Background from the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived 2026-06-03.
Frequently asked
Is Curacao expensive to live in?
Curacao is 29% cheaper than the US, ranking #43 of the 203 countries we track. Its most expensive category relative to the world is communication; health costs the least.
How much money do you need to live in Curacao?
A lifestyle that costs $100,000 in the United States would cost roughly $71,000 in Curacao, going by overall price levels. The salary translator turns your own figure into a local equivalent.
Is Curacao cheaper than the United States?
Yes. Its overall price level is 70.9, against 100 for the United States.
Every number, sourced.
We cite the exact source and year for each figure. Derived values are computed at build time, never hand-entered.
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