8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in United Kingdom

About 1 in 192 people born in 2023 started life in United Kingdom. A boy can expect to live 79 years and a girl 83, up from 66 and 71 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 192
odds of being born here
688,400 births · Ranked 43rd of 230
79 / 83
years of life, boys / girls
Was 66 / 71 in 1950
$24,194
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 43rd of 203 · extrapolated
83%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 13 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 36 in every 1,000 births to 4.2.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth79.4 years for boys, 83.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 54.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year654,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles90%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year9 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.56UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $24,194 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.8% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming1% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment112% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is London, with 9.0 million people.

83%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
London9.0 million
Birmingham1.2 million
Glasgow626,410
Manchester568,996
Sheffield556,500
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English98%
French17%
German9%
Spanish8%
Polish4%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

England49.2 million
Scotland3.2 million
Wales2.1 million
Northern Ireland999,127

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

Large cities

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

People on the move

About 6.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Australia, United States, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Australia1,107,102
United States894,789
Canada427,526
Residents born abroad17.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostAustralia (1.1 million), United States (894,789), Canada (427,526)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $5.4 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 94%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
94%
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 2024232,112Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence296 between 1989 and 2005UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in United Kingdom

Elsewhere in Europe

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