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

Born in Sao Tome and Principe

About 1 in 20,325 people born in 2023 started life in Sao Tome and Principe. A boy can expect to live 66 years and a girl 74, up from 38 and 40 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 78% have basic drinking water.

1 in 20,325
odds of being born here
6,500 births · Ranked 176th of 230
66 / 74
years of life, boys / girls
Was 38 / 40 in 1950
$2,980
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 147th of 203 · extrapolated
69%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 31 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 296 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
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth66.2 years for boys, 73.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 513.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year1,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles87%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year73 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year10 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.6.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.64UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.5 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 48 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2017
6%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
48%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $2,980 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth48% / 6% (2017)World Bank PIP
Unemployment9.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises21.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming13% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed44% 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 São Tomé, with 53,300 people.

69%
live in cities
81%
have electricity at home
78%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
São Tomé53,300
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Portuguese85%
French20%
Portuguese is official.

People on the move

About 18% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Portugal, Angola, Gabon.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Portugal23,121
Angola7,062
Gabon7,058
Residents born abroad0.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 17.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostPortugal (23,121), Angola (7,062), Gabon (7,058)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $35.9 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

55% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

55%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
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 202480Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Sao Tome and Principe, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Sao Tome and Principe

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