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Where you could be born / Africa / Western Africa

Born in Burkina Faso

About 1 in 181 people born in 2023 started life in Burkina Faso. A boy can expect to live 59 years and a girl 63, up from 32 and 34 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 49% have basic drinking water.

1 in 181
odds of being born here
728,600 births · Ranked 40th of 230
59 / 63
years of life, boys / girls
Was 32 / 34 in 1950
$1,632
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 184th of 203 · extrapolated
28%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 28 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 389 in every 1,000 births to 77.

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 birth58.9 years for boys, 63.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 577.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year183,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles88%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.5%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year58 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year353 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.8 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.2.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.19UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 45 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
7%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
45%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,632 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth45% / 7% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises0.7% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming53% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed83% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment31% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Ouagadougou, with 2.4 million people.

28%
live in cities
22%
have electricity at home
49%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Ouagadougou2.4 million
Bobo-Dioulasso904,920
Koudougou160,239
Saaba136,011
Ouahigouya124,587
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Mossi40%
Dyula32%
French25%
French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Centre2.7 million
Hauts-Bassins1.0 million
Centre-Ouest388,592
Centre-Est342,826
Centre-Nord312,931
Nord251,648
Boucle du Mouhoun250,038
Est188,481
Sahel153,792
Cascades Region150,744

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

Large cities

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

All 13 regions
  • Centre2.7 million
  • Hauts-Bassins1.0 million
  • Centre-Ouest388,592
  • Centre-Est342,826
  • Centre-Nord312,931
  • Nord251,648
  • Boucle du Mouhoun250,038
  • Est188,481
  • Sahel153,792
  • Cascades Region150,744
  • Plateau-Central145,954
  • Sud-Ouest114,891
  • Centre-Sud100,647

People on the move

About 8.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Ivory Coast1,820,882
Ghana75,339
Mali69,919
Residents born abroad3.1% (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 mostIvory Coast (1.8 million), Ghana (75,339), Mali (69,919)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $595.2 million a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

7% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

7%
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 2024400Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence17,223 between 2016 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Burkina Faso

Elsewhere in Africa

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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