8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / Southern Asia

Born in Sri Lanka

About 1 in 408 people born in 2023 started life in Sri Lanka. A boy can expect to live 74 years and a girl 81, up from 52 and 55 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 90% have basic drinking water.

1 in 408
odds of being born here
324,100 births · Ranked 70th of 230
74 / 81
years of life, boys / girls
Was 52 / 55 in 1950
$3,446
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 142nd of 203 · extrapolated
20%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 24 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 152 in every 1,000 births to 6.3.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth74.2 years for boys, 80.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 56.3 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year162,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year57 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.0, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.97UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2019
7%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $3,446 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 7% (2019)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises16.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming27% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed42% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment88% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Colombo, with 648,034 people.

20%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
90%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Colombo648,034
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia219,827
Maharagama195,355
Jaffna169,102
Moratuwa168,280
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Sinhala68%
Tamil15%
English10%
Sinhala, Tamil is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Western Province2.3 million
Southern Province489,514
Northern Province462,083
Eastern Province428,762
Central Province281,735
North Western Province98,944
Uva Province68,522
Sabaragamuwa Province65,794
North Central Province60,943

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

People on the move

About 6.5% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are India, Qatar, United Kingdom.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
India253,869
Qatar161,747
United Kingdom160,178
Residents born abroad0.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostIndia (253,869), Qatar (161,747), United Kingdom (160,178)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $8.3 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

31% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

31%
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 202416,907Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 19802NOAA IBTrACS
Deaths in organized violence65,603 between 1989 and 2019UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Sri Lanka

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