8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / Central America

Born in Panama

About 1 in 1,848 people born in 2023 started life in Panama. A boy can expect to live 77 years and a girl 83, up from 54 and 57 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,848
odds of being born here
71,500 births · Ranked 119th of 230
77 / 83
years of life, boys / girls
Was 54 / 57 in 1950
$9,973
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 78th of 203 · extrapolated
66%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 24 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 124 in every 1,000 births to 16.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth76.7 years for boys, 82.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 516.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year21,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles88%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year61 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year3 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.1.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.12UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 54 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
4%Poorest fifth
8%Second
13%Middle
21%Fourth
54%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $9,973 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth54% / 4% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises1.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person5.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming15% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed41% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment77% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Panama City, with 408,168 people.

66%
live in cities
97%
have electricity at home
95%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Panama City408,168
San Miguelito321,501
Juan Díaz100,636
David82,907
Colón78,000
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish69%
English14%
Spanish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Panamá972,037
Panamá Oeste Province155,191
Colón123,184
Chiriquí Province118,032
Veraguas Province45,355
Bocas del Toro Province17,997
Coclé16,250

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

People on the move

About 4.3% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Costa Rica, Colombia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States161,903
Costa Rica16,546
Colombia3,506
Residents born abroad10.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (161,903), Costa Rica (16,546), Colombia (3,506)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $634.5 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

62% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

62%
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 20248,749Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19502NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence920 between 1989 and 1989UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Panama

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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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