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

Born in Gabon

About 1 in 1,923 people born in 2023 started life in Gabon. A boy can expect to live 66 years and a girl 71, up from 37 and 42 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 88% have basic drinking water.

1 in 1,923
odds of being born here
68,700 births · Ranked 120th of 230
66 / 71
years of life, boys / girls
Was 37 / 42 in 1950
$5,034
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 117th of 203 · extrapolated
92%
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 299 in every 1,000 births to 37.

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 birth65.9 years for boys, 71.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 537.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year16,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles66%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV2.9%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year380 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year191 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 4.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.6.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.65UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.5 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 44 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2017
6%Poorest fifth
11%Second
16%Middle
23%Fourth
44%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,034 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth44% / 6% (2017)World Bank PIP
Unemployment20.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming29% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed32% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment70% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Libreville, with 846,090 people.

92%
live in cities
94%
have electricity at home
88%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Libreville846,090
Port-Gentil164,018
Franceville132,895
Owendo95,313
Oyem72,939
Languages
Share of people who can use each
French63%
French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Estuaire1.0 million
Haut-Ogooué203,994
Ogooué-Maritime164,018
Woleu-Ntem106,500
Moyen-Ogooué76,705
Ngouni43,342
Nyanga36,108
Ogooué-Lolo30,830
Ogooué-Ivindo24,823

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

People on the move

About 2.4% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, Mali, Republic of the Congo.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France36,785
Mali15,565
Republic of the Congo3,125
Residents born abroad17.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 2.4% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (36,785), Mali (15,565), Republic of the Congo (3,125)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $18.5 million a year (2015)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

39% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

39%
of older people receive a pension (2010)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2020)

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 2024307Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

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

Be born in Gabon

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