8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Northern Africa

Born in Sudan

About 1 in 79 people born in 2023 started life in Sudan. A boy can expect to live 63 years and a girl 70, up from 45 and 47 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 64% have basic drinking water.

1 in 79
odds of being born here
1.7 million births · Ranked 16th of 230
63 / 70
years of life, boys / girls
Was 45 / 47 in 1950
$1,395
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 191st of 203 · extrapolated
35%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 21 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 211 in every 1,000 births to 50.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

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 birth63.3 years for boys, 69.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 550.3 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year320,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles51%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year50 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year98 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.3.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.32UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 42 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2014
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
42%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,395 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth42% / 8% (2014)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.5% of the workforce (2022)World Bank WDI
Price rises138.8% a year (2022)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-30.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming40% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed47% of jobs (2022)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment44% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Khartoum, with 2.0 million people.

35%
live in cities
66%
have electricity at home
64%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Khartoum2.0 million
Omdurman1.8 million
Khartoum North1.0 million
Nyala565,734
Port Sudan489,725
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Arabic61%
English61%
Beja5%
Hausa2%
Arabic, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Khartoum4.8 million
Southern Darfur873,037
White Nile665,643
Red Sea635,705
Al Jazirah554,138
Sennar529,619
Al Qaḑārif508,585
North Kordofan503,631
Kassala465,066
Northern Darfur379,844

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

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 18 regions
  • Khartoum4.8 million
  • Southern Darfur873,037
  • White Nile665,643
  • Red Sea635,705
  • Al Jazirah554,138
  • Sennar529,619
  • Al Qaḑārif508,585
  • North Kordofan503,631
  • Kassala465,066
  • Northern Darfur379,844
  • Western Darfur352,882
  • River Nile325,052
  • Eastern Darfur313,700
  • West Kordofan247,235
  • Blue Nile244,763
  • Southern Kordofan219,963
  • Northern State91,485
  • Central Darfur35,061

People on the move

About 7.5% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Chad, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Chad1,071,034
Saudi Arabia895,646
South Sudan608,817
Residents born abroad4.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 7.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostChad (1.1 million), Saudi Arabia (895,646), South Sudan (608,817)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $11.9 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

11% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

11%
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 20245,046Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence113,439 between 1989 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in 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