8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Oceania / Micronesia

Born in Kiribati

About 1 in 38,856 people born in 2023 started life in Kiribati. A boy can expect to live 65 years and a girl 68, up from 45 and 47 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 79% have basic drinking water.

1 in 38,856
odds of being born here
3,400 births · Ranked 188th of 230
65 / 68
years of life, boys / girls
Was 45 / 47 in 1950
$3,298
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 143rd of 203 · extrapolated
62%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 21 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 219 in every 1,000 births to 55.

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 birth64.6 years for boys, 68.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 554.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year1,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles79%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year908 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.1.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.15UN 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 35 and the poorest fifth 10.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
10%Poorest fifth
14%Second
18%Middle
22%Fourth
35%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $3,298 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth35% / 10% (2023)World Bank PIP
Price rises9.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment95% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Tarawa, with 40,311 people.

62%
live in cities
96%
have electricity at home
79%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Tarawa40,311
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English100%
Gilbertese60%
English, Gilbertese is official.

People on the move

About 4.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are New Zealand, Australia, Fiji.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
New Zealand3,015
Australia1,585
Fiji808
Residents born abroad2.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostNew Zealand (3,015), Australia (1,585), Fiji (808)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $22.6 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

94% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

94%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
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 202424Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

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

Be born in Kiribati

Elsewhere in Oceania

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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