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

Born in Mauritius

About 1 in 11,196 people born in 2023 started life in Mauritius. A boy can expect to live 72 years and a girl 78, up from 51 and 53 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 11,196
odds of being born here
11,800 births · Ranked 165th of 230
72 / 78
years of life, boys / girls
Was 51 / 53 in 1950
$6,979
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 97th of 203 · extrapolated
39%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 23 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 132 in every 1,000 births to 14.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth71.9 years for boys, 78.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 514.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year11,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year12 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.2, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.24UN 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 45 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2017
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
45%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,979 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth45% / 7% (2017)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises7.1% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person5.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming5% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed18% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment90% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Port Louis, with 155,226 people.

39%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Port Louis155,226
Vacoas115,289
Beau Bassin-Rose Hill111,355
Curepipe78,618
Quatre Bornes77,308
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Morisyen90%
French73%
English72%
Bhojpuri9%
Urdu5%
French, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Plaines Wilhems382,570
Port Louis155,226
Pamplemousses55,324
Flacq35,746
Rivière du Rempart21,063
Black River17,818
Grand Port17,042
Moka16,704

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

People on the move

About 9.0% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, Australia, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France44,709
Australia28,962
Canada20,173
Residents born abroad2.3% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 9.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (44,709), Australia (28,962), Canada (20,173)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $286.9 million a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 1%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
1%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

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 20241,073Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 19803NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

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

Be born in Mauritius

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