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

Born in Belize

About 1 in 17,853 people born in 2023 started life in Belize. A boy can expect to live 71 years and a girl 77, up from 47 and 51 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 95% have basic drinking water.

1 in 17,853
odds of being born here
7,400 births · Ranked 173rd of 230
71 / 77
years of life, boys / girls
Was 47 / 51 in 1950
$7,856
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 86th of 203 · extrapolated
42%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 24 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 188 in every 1,000 births to 10.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

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 birth70.9 years for boys, 76.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 510.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year2,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles93%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year34 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.0, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.01UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2018
6%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,856 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2018)World Bank PIP
Unemployment8.3% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming17% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed35% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment84% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Belize City, with 65,222 people.

42%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
95%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Belize City65,222
San Ignacio21,229
San Pedro17,429
Orange Walk15,298
Belmopan13,381
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English77%
Spanish55%
Qʼeqchiʼ7%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Belize District82,651
Cayo District34,610
Orange Walk District15,298

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

People on the move

About 1.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Mexico3,170
Bolivia1,124
Guatemala1,082
Residents born abroad16.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostMexico (3,170), Bolivia (1,124), Guatemala (1,082)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $123.8 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

38% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

38%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

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 2024688Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 19808NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

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

Be born in Belize

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