8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina

About 1 in 5,370 people born in 2023 started life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A boy can expect to live 74 years and a girl 81, up from 45 and 50 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 5,370
odds of being born here
24,600 births · Ranked 149th of 230
74 / 81
years of life, boys / girls
Was 45 / 50 in 1950
$7,271
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 94th of 203 · extrapolated
52%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 30 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 232 in every 1,000 births to 6.0.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth74.4 years for boys, 80.9 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 56.0 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year43,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles55%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year20 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.5, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.49UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 39 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
39%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $7,271 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth39% / 8% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment10.7% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.1% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming18% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed22% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment88% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Sarajevo, with 696,731 people.

52%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
96%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Sarajevo696,731
Banja Luka221,106
Zenica164,423
Tuzla142,486
Mostar104,518
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Bosnian99%
Bosnian99%
English45%
Croatian12%
Serbian10%
Bosnian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Serbian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Federation of B&H1.5 million
Srpska355,558
Brčko38,968

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

People on the move

About 51% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Croatia, Germany, Serbia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Croatia363,041
Germany320,423
Serbia277,641
Residents born abroad1.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 50.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostCroatia (363,041), Germany (320,423), Serbia (277,641)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.5 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

75% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 5%.

75%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
5%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2019)

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 202416,392Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19505; the deadliest, in 1969, killed about 14 people (magnitude 6)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence63,535 between 1992 and 1995UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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