8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Southern Asia

Born in Pakistan

About 1 in 19 people born in 2023 started life in Pakistan. A boy can expect to live 65 years and a girl 70, up from 35 and 33 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 91% have basic drinking water.

1 in 19
odds of being born here
6.9 million births · Ranked 4th of 230
65 / 70
years of life, boys / girls
Was 35 / 33 in 1950
$1,968
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 171st of 203 · extrapolated
39%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 34 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 379 in every 1,000 births to 59.

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 birth65.3 years for boys, 70.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 559.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year1,600,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles84%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year267 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year18 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.8 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.6.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.61UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 42 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
21%Fourth
42%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,968 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth42% / 8% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises30.8% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming37% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed57% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment42% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lahore, with 13.0 million people.

39%
live in cities
96%
have electricity at home
91%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lahore13.0 million
Karachi11.6 million
Peshawar4.8 million
Faisalabad3.8 million
Rawalpindi3.4 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Urdu95%
Punjabi70%
English50%
Western Panjabi40%
Pashto16%
Urdu, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Punjab49.6 million
Sindh21.9 million
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa10.6 million
Balochistan3.2 million
Azad Kashmir1.3 million
Islamabad619,166
Gilgit-Baltistan519,760

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

Large cities

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

People on the move

About 2.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Saudi Arabia1,937,044
United Arab Emirates932,356
India768,138
Residents born abroad1.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 2.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSaudi Arabia (1.9 million), United Arab Emirates (932,356), India (768,138)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $40.5 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

17% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

17%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
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 202430,656Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195029; the deadliest, in 2005, killed about 76,213 people (magnitude 7.6)NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 19801NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence47,189 between 1989 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Pakistan

Elsewhere in Asia

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