8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Africa / Middle Africa

Born in Cameroon

About 1 in 138 people born in 2023 started life in Cameroon. A boy can expect to live 62 years and a girl 66, up from 32 and 35 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 71% have basic drinking water.

1 in 138
odds of being born here
957,400 births · Ranked 31st of 230
62 / 66
years of life, boys / girls
Was 32 / 35 in 1950
$2,544
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 159th of 203 · extrapolated
55%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 31 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 371 in every 1,000 births to 68.

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 birth61.5 years for boys, 65.9 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 567.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year203,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles71%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV2.7%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year137 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year259 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.3.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.32UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 48 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
5%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
48%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $2,544 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth48% / 5% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises7.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming43% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed69% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment45% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Douala, with 1.3 million people.

55%
live in cities
72%
have electricity at home
71%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Douala1.3 million
Yaoundé1.3 million
Bamenda420,445
Bafoussam373,268
Maroua314,122
Languages
Share of people who can use each
French68%
English38%
Bulu5%
Fula4%
Ewondo3%
French, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Littoral1.9 million
Centre1.7 million
West953,277
South-West835,738
North-West795,982
Far North767,674
Adamaoua421,559
South322,185
East315,722
North302,662

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 1.4% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, Nigeria, Gabon.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France127,995
Nigeria56,288
Gabon54,949
Residents born abroad2.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.4% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (127,995), Nigeria (56,288), Gabon (54,949)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $690.2 million a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

18% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

18%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
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 20241,974Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence8,769 between 1991 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Cameroon

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