8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Eastern Africa

Born in Ethiopia

About 1 in 32 people born in 2023 started life in Ethiopia. A boy can expect to live 64 years and a girl 71, up from 32 and 39 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 54% have basic drinking water.

1 in 32
odds of being born here
4.1 million births · Ranked 7th of 230
64 / 71
years of life, boys / girls
Was 32 / 39 in 1950
$1,619
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 186th of 203 · extrapolated
23%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 32 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 335 in every 1,000 births to 45.

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 birth64.1 years for boys, 70.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 544.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year767,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles68%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.7%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year143 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year109 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.0.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.99UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.1 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,619 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.4% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises30.2% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming62% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed84% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment34% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Addis Ababa, with 3.9 million people.

23%
live in cities
55%
have electricity at home
54%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Addis Ababa3.9 million
Jijiga483,000
Gonder466,000
Mek'ele457,900
Nazrēt456,900
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English43%
Amharic33%
Oromo32%
Somali6%
Tigrinya6%
Amharic is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Oromiya4.3 million
Addis Ababa3.9 million
Amhara3.3 million
Somali1.6 million
Tigray1.3 million
South Ethiopia Regional State1.3 million
Central Ethiopia Regional State792,300
Sidama Region644,300
Dire Dawa343,000
South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region293,200

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

Large cities

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

All 14 regions
  • Oromiya4.3 million
  • Addis Ababa3.9 million
  • Amhara3.3 million
  • Somali1.6 million
  • Tigray1.3 million
  • South Ethiopia Regional State1.3 million
  • Central Ethiopia Regional State792,300
  • Sidama Region644,300
  • Dire Dawa343,000
  • South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region293,200
  • Āfar292,800
  • Harari157,000
  • Bīnshangul Gumuz141,400
  • Gambela97,600

People on the move

About 0.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Saudi Arabia, Sudan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States363,811
Saudi Arabia180,746
Sudan121,969
Residents born abroad0.9% (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 mostUnited States (363,811), Saudi Arabia (180,746), Sudan (121,969)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $7.1 billion a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

4% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

4%
of older people receive a pension (2024)
0%
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 20247,574Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19502; the deadliest, in 1961, killed about 160 people (magnitude 6.2)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence504,075 between 1989 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Ethiopia

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