8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / Caribbean

Born in Barbados

About 1 in 41,284 people born in 2023 started life in Barbados. A boy can expect to live 74 years and a girl 79, up from 51 and 55 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 41,284
odds of being born here
3,200 births · Ranked 189th of 230
74 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 51 / 55 in 1950
$7,057
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 96th of 203 · extrapolated
59%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 23 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 186 in every 1,000 births to 11.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth73.6 years for boys, 78.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 510.5 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year3,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.0World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles89%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year1 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 4.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.71UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2016
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,057 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 7% (2016)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.2% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming1% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed20% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment103% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Bridgetown, with 98,511 people.

59%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
99%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Bridgetown98,511
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English100%
English is official.

People on the move

About 6.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Canada13,022
Trinidad and Tobago1,704
Jamaica550
Residents born abroad12.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostCanada (13,022), Trinidad and Tobago (1,704), Jamaica (550)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $85.2 million a year (2017)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

98% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 88%.

98%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
88%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2020)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024593Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Barbados, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Barbados

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences