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Where you could be born / Asia / Central Asia

Born in Tajikistan

About 1 in 487 people born in 2023 started life in Tajikistan. A boy can expect to live 70 years and a girl 74, up from 47 and 51 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 89% have basic drinking water.

1 in 487
odds of being born here
271,400 births · Ranked 74th of 230
70 / 74
years of life, boys / girls
Was 47 / 51 in 1950
$3,567
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 138th of 203 · extrapolated
26%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 22 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 228 in every 1,000 births to 30.

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 birth69.6 years for boys, 74.0 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 529.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year48,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles98%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year76 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.1.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.07UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth26.5 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 43 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
7%Poorest fifth
11%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
43%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $3,567 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth43% / 7% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person6.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming45% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed31% 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 Dushanbe, with 679,400 people.

26%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
89%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Dushanbe679,400
Isfara274,000
Istaravshan273,500
Kŭlob214,700
Konibodom211,100
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Tajik100%
Russian12%
Tajik is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Sughd1.2 million
Dushanbe703,096
Khatlon Province533,432
Republican Subordination106,671
Gorno-Badakhshan56,500

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

People on the move

About 4.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Russia415,676
Ukraine30,256
Kazakhstan27,922
Residents born abroad2.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostRussia (415,676), Ukraine (30,256), Kazakhstan (27,922)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $10.2 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 5%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
5%
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 2024125Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195010; the deadliest, in 1989, killed about 274 people (magnitude 5.3)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence9,500 between 1992 and 2022UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Tajikistan

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