8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Eastern Africa

Born in South Sudan

About 1 in 402 people born in 2023 started life in South Sudan. A boy can expect to live 55 years and a girl 61, up from 28 and 33 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 40% have basic drinking water.

1 in 402
odds of being born here
328,300 births · Ranked 69th of 230
55 / 61
years of life, boys / girls
Was 28 / 33 in 1950
$854
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 202nd of 203 · extrapolated
21%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 27 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 394 in every 1,000 births to 99.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0200400600800195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth54.6 years for boys, 60.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 599.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year110,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.0World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles72%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year326 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year265 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.9.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.86UN 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 50 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2016
5%Poorest fifth
10%Second
14%Middle
22%Fourth
50%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $854 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth50% / 5% (2016)World Bank PIP
Unemployment12.4% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-9.8% (2015)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming64% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed83% of jobs (2023)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment110% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Juba, with 450,000 people.

21%
live in cities
5%
have electricity at home
40%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Juba450,000
Winejok300,000
Yei260,720
Malakal160,765
Wau127,384
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Arabic27%
English27%
Nuer6%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Central Equatoria710,720
Northern Bahr al Ghazal338,745
Upper Nile160,765
Western Bahr al Ghazal143,384
Warrap139,938
Eastern Equatoria69,048
Western Equatoria40,382
Lakes32,083
Jonglei26,782
Unity17,827

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

People on the move

About 27% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Sudan1,507,976
Uganda923,658
Ethiopia443,743
Residents born abroad7.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 26.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSudan (1.5 million), Uganda (923,658), Ethiopia (443,743)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.2 billion a year (2023)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

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

0%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

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 2024147Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 1990, killed about 31 people (magnitude 7.1)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence15,246 between 2011 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in South Sudan

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