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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Bolivia

About 1 in 508 people born in 2023 started life in Bolivia. A boy can expect to live 66 years and a girl 71, up from 38 and 43 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 93% have basic drinking water.

1 in 508
odds of being born here
260,200 births · Ranked 76th of 230
66 / 71
years of life, boys / girls
Was 38 / 43 in 1950
$8,370
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 84th of 203 · extrapolated
71%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 28 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 317 in every 1,000 births to 41.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth66.1 years for boys, 71.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 541.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year88,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles68%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year105 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year3 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.5.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.55UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.1 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 47 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
5%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
47%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $8,370 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth47% / 5% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming25% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed66% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment91% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is La Paz, with 2.0 million people.

71%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
93%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
La Paz2.0 million
Santa Cruz de la Sierra1.8 million
Cochabamba841,276
Sucre224,838
Oruro208,684
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish61%
Quechua32%
Aymara20%
Spanish, Quechua, Aymara is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

La Paz Department2.2 million
Santa Cruz Department2.1 million
Cochabamba1.5 million
Tarija Department317,283
Beni Department243,947
Chuquisaca Department224,838
Oruro224,176
Potosí Department221,806
Pando26,585

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 6.3% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Argentina, Spain, Chile.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Argentina337,017
Spain188,863
Chile150,155
Residents born abroad1.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostArgentina (337,017), Spain (188,863), Chile (150,155)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.2 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

100%
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 202422,387Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19504; the deadliest, in 1998, killed about 105 people (magnitude 6.6)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence50 between 2000 and 2000UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Bolivia

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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