8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Northern Africa

Born in Tunisia

About 1 in 788 people born in 2023 started life in Tunisia. A boy can expect to live 74 years and a girl 79, up from 37 and 39 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 788
odds of being born here
167,700 births · Ranked 93rd of 230
74 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 37 / 39 in 1950
$5,897
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 108th of 203 · extrapolated
70%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 38 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 302 in every 1,000 births to 11.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

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 birth73.9 years for boys, 79.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 510.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year74,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year38 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.8, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.83UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.3 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, 2021
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
42%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,897 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% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment15.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises9.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming13% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed25% 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 Tunis, with 693,210 people.

70%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
96%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Tunis693,210
Sfax280,566
Sousse221,715
Sukrah159,862
Kairouan139,070
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Tunisian Arabic90%
Arabic90%
French53%
Arabic, French is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Tunis Governorate1.2 million
Sfax Governorate681,067
Nabeul Governorate598,550
Ariana Governorate530,487
Sousse Governorate527,175
Monastir Governorate508,674
Ben Arous Governorate470,818
Medenine Governorate447,176
Bizerte Governorate360,733
Manouba278,685

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

All 24 regions
  • Tunis Governorate1.2 million
  • Sfax Governorate681,067
  • Nabeul Governorate598,550
  • Ariana Governorate530,487
  • Sousse Governorate527,175
  • Monastir Governorate508,674
  • Ben Arous Governorate470,818
  • Medenine Governorate447,176
  • Bizerte Governorate360,733
  • Manouba278,685
  • Gabès Governorate257,338
  • Kasserine Governorate201,359
  • Gafsa182,670
  • Kairouan139,070
  • Mahdia Governorate133,257
  • Béja Governorate106,690
  • Kef Governorate103,678
  • Jendouba Governorate90,752
  • Tataouine66,924
  • Kebili Governorate60,531
  • Tozeur Governorate60,115
  • Sidi Bouzid Governorate47,595
  • Zaghouan Governorate45,898
  • Siliana Governorate31,251

People on the move

About 5.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, Italy, Israel.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France444,223
Italy117,917
Israel52,231
Residents born abroad0.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 5.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (444,223), Italy (117,917), Israel (52,231)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.9 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 3%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
3%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2019)

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 202429,423Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 1957, killed about 13 people (magnitude 5.6)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence330 between 2013 and 2018UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Tunisia

Elsewhere in Africa

All countries

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