8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Southern Africa

Born in Eswatini

About 1 in 4,463 people born in 2023 started life in Eswatini. A boy can expect to live 61 years and a girl 67, up from 42 and 45 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 79% have basic drinking water.

1 in 4,463
odds of being born here
29,600 births · Ranked 146th of 230
61 / 67
years of life, boys / girls
Was 42 / 45 in 1950
$2,549
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 158th of 203 · extrapolated
26%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 21 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 239 in every 1,000 births to 50.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth61.2 years for boys, 67.0 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 549.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year9,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles85%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV24.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year326 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year2 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.8.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.75UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 60 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2016
4%Poorest fifth
7%Second
11%Middle
19%Fourth
60%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $2,549 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth60% / 4% (2016)World Bank PIP
Unemployment34.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.6% a year (2019)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming15% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed30% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment82% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Manzini, with 110,537 people.

26%
live in cities
86%
have electricity at home
79%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Manzini110,537
Mbabane76,218
Lobamba4,557
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English80%
Swati58%
Zulu7%
Tsonga2%
English, Swati is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Manzini Region110,537
Hhohho Region80,775

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

People on the move

About 0.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are South Africa, Portugal, Botswana.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
South Africa9,302
Portugal742
Botswana642
Residents born abroad2.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSouth Africa (9,302), Portugal (742), Botswana (642)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $38.7 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

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 (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 20241,427Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence48 between 2021 and 2021UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Eswatini

Elsewhere in Africa

All countries

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