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Where you could be born / Europe / Eastern Europe

Born in Belarus

About 1 in 2,032 people born in 2023 started life in Belarus. A boy can expect to live 70 years and a girl 79, up from 55 and 62 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 2,032
odds of being born here
65,000 births · Ranked 121st of 230
70 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 55 / 62 in 1950
$7,795
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 87th of 203 · extrapolated
79%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 16 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 130 in every 1,000 births to 2.4.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth69.5 years for boys, 79.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year122,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.7World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles97%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year19 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.2, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.21UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 35 and the poorest fifth 10.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2020
10%Poorest fifth
15%Second
18%Middle
22%Fourth
35%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,795 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth35% / 10% (2020)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.0% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming10% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed7% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment97% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Minsk, with 1.7 million people.

79%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Minsk1.7 million
Homyel'501,193
Hrodna363,718
Vitebsk358,927
Mahilyow352,896
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Russian71%
Belarusian26%
Russian, Belarusian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Minsk City1.7 million
Homyel’ Voblasc’910,394
Brest801,093
Vitebsk688,901
Grodnenskaya666,294
Mogilev655,038
Minsk641,566

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 8.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Russia, Ukraine, Poland.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Russia255,159
Ukraine252,977
Poland56,258
Residents born abroad11.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 8.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostRussia (255,159), Ukraine (252,977), Poland (56,258)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $2.4 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 45%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
45%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2015)

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 20247,118Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

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

Be born in Belarus

Elsewhere in Europe

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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