8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Western Asia

Born in Palestine

About 1 in 902 people born in 2023 started life in Palestine. A boy can expect to live 60 years and a girl 72, up from 44 and 48 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 902
odds of being born here
146,400 births · Ranked 97th of 230
60 / 72
years of life, boys / girls
Was 44 / 48 in 1950
$5,482
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 112th of 203 · extrapolated
87%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 20 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 213 in every 1,000 births to 26.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

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 birth59.7 years for boys, 71.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 526.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year39,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles89%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year0 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.8 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.3.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.31UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 43 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
11%Second
16%Middle
23%Fourth
43%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,482 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth43% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment24.4% of the workforce (2022)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-3.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming6% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed24% of jobs (2022)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment89% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Gaza, with 410,000 people.

87%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
99%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Gaza410,000
Khān Yūnis173,183
Jabālyā168,568
Hebron160,470
Nablus130,326
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Arabic100%
Arabic is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Gaza Strip1.2 million
West Bank1.1 million

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

People on the move

About 77% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Jordan2,379,525
Syria615,119
Lebanon490,636
Residents born abroad5.0% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 77.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostJordan (2.4 million), Syria (615,119), Lebanon (490,636)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $693.3 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

25% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

25%
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 20245,708Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

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

Be born in Palestine

Elsewhere in Asia

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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