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

Born in Colombia

About 1 in 187 people born in 2023 started life in Colombia. A boy can expect to live 75 years and a girl 81, up from 46 and 51 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 187
odds of being born here
705,000 births · Ranked 42nd of 230
75 / 81
years of life, boys / girls
Was 46 / 51 in 1950
$6,928
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 99th of 203 · extrapolated
78%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 29 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 193 in every 1,000 births to 12.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

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 birth75.0 years for boys, 80.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 511.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year282,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles93%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year46 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year13 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.65UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth26.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 59 and the poorest fifth 3.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
3%Poorest fifth
7%Second
12%Middle
19%Fourth
59%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,928 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth59% / 3% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment9.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises11.7% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming14% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed46% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment102% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Bogotá, with 7.7 million people.

78%
live in cities
99%
have electricity at home
97%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Bogotá7.7 million
Cali2.4 million
Medellín2.0 million
Barranquilla1.2 million
Cartagena914,552
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish93%
Spanish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Bogota D.C.7.7 million
Valle del Cauca Department4.3 million
Antioquia4.3 million
Atlántico2.2 million
Cundinamarca1.9 million
Santander Department1.6 million
Bolívar1.5 million
Norte de Santander Department1.1 million
Córdoba1.1 million
Tolima Department1.0 million

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

Large cities

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

All 32 regions
  • Bogota D.C.7.7 million
  • Valle del Cauca Department4.3 million
  • Antioquia4.3 million
  • Atlántico2.2 million
  • Cundinamarca1.9 million
  • Santander Department1.6 million
  • Bolívar1.5 million
  • Norte de Santander Department1.1 million
  • Córdoba1.1 million
  • Tolima Department1.0 million
  • Magdalena Department972,220
  • Cesar Department942,649
  • Risaralda Department861,910
  • Cauca Department768,281
  • Nariño743,264
  • Caldas Department741,503
  • Huila Department679,943
  • Sucre Department572,290
  • La Guajira Department535,569
  • Quindío Department515,462
  • Meta Department487,789
  • Boyacá469,376
  • Casanare Department271,984
  • Caquetá219,886
  • Chocó164,798
  • Putumayo Department163,999
  • Arauca Department114,684
  • San Andres y Providencia58,257
  • Guaviare Department52,815
  • Amazonas Department48,144
  • Vichada Department44,926
  • Vaupés29,850

People on the move

About 6.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Venezuela, Spain.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States1,008,875
Venezuela875,552
Spain792,228
Residents born abroad5.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (1.0 million), Venezuela (875,552), Spain (792,228)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $13.1 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

60% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 5%.

60%
of older people receive a pension (2025)
5%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2024)

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 2024142,727Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195027; the deadliest, in 1999, killed about 1,185 people (magnitude 6.2)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence45,275 between 1989 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Colombia

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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