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

Born in Eritrea

About 1 in 1,333 people born in 2023 started life in Eritrea. A boy can expect to live 67 years and a girl 71, up from 31 and 35 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 52% have basic drinking water.

1 in 1,333
odds of being born here
99,100 births · Ranked 106th of 230
67 / 71
years of life, boys / girls
Was 31 / 35 in 1950
3.71
children per woman
Ranked 38th of 230
35%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 35 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 351 in every 1,000 births to 35.

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 birth66.5 years for boys, 70.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 535.3 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year21,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles93%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year149 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year63 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.7.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.71UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

Unemployment5.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person6.7% (2011)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming56% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed52% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment44% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Asmara, with 563,930 people.

35%
live in cities
54%
have electricity at home
52%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Asmara563,930
Keren74,800
Himora46,100
Af’abet35,673
Massawa23,100
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Tigrinya60%
English59%
Tigre18%
Arabic5%
Afar4%
Tigrinya, English, Arabic is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Maekel563,930
Anseba74,800
Gash-Barka61,991
Debub53,454
Northern Red Sea23,100
Southern Red Sea21,300

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

People on the move

About 26% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Sudan, Ethiopia, Sweden.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Sudan384,053
Ethiopia176,860
Sweden59,751
Residents born abroad0.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 25.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSudan (384,053), Ethiopia (176,860), Sweden (59,751)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.3 million a year (2000)World Bank WDI

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 2024103Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence19,901 between 1997 and 2016UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Eritrea

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