8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / South-Eastern Asia

Born in Brunei

About 1 in 21,308 people born in 2023 started life in Brunei. A boy can expect to live 73 years and a girl 78, up from 49 and 53 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 21,308
odds of being born here
6,200 births · Ranked 178th of 230
73 / 78
years of life, boys / girls
Was 49 / 53 in 1950
$76,617
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 5th of 203
75%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 25 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 193 in every 1,000 births to 9.7.

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 birth73.3 years for boys, 77.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 59.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year2,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles97%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year72 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.8, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.75UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

Economic output per personabout $76,617 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank WDI
Unemployment5.3% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises0.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming1% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed7% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment92% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Bandar Seri Begawan, with 64,409 people.

75%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Bandar Seri Begawan64,409
Sengkurong40,972
Mentiri39,324
Kuala Belait31,178
Tutong19,151
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Malay93%
Chinese11%
Malay5%
English2%
Malay, Malay is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Brunei-Muara District163,274
Belait47,991
Tutong19,151

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

People on the move

About 10% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are India, Malaysia, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
India21,878
Malaysia16,887
Canada4,347
Residents born abroad25.9% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 10.1% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostIndia (21,878), Malaysia (16,887), Canada (4,347)UN DESA migrant stock

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 2024179Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

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

Be born in Brunei

Elsewhere in Asia

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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