8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Oceania / Melanesia

Born in Vanuatu

About 1 in 14,679 people born in 2023 started life in Vanuatu. A boy can expect to live 69 years and a girl 74, up from 43 and 45 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 87% have basic drinking water.

1 in 14,679
odds of being born here
9,000 births · Ranked 170th of 230
69 / 74
years of life, boys / girls
Was 43 / 45 in 1950
$2,080
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 166th of 203 · extrapolated
22%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 27 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 197 in every 1,000 births to 18.

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 birth69.4 years for boys, 73.9 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 517.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year2,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles70%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year45 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year18 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.6.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.60UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.1 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, 2019
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $2,080 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% (2019)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises11.2% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming45% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed61% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment135% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Port-Vila, with 35,901 people.

22%
live in cities
62%
have electricity at home
87%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Port-Vila35,901
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Bislama90%
English83%
French31%
Bislama, English, French is official.

People on the move

About 4.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Australia, New Caledonia, South Africa.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Australia10,208
New Caledonia4,021
South Africa230
Residents born abroad1.0% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostAustralia (10,208), New Caledonia (4,021), South Africa (230)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $197.8 million a year (2022)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

4% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

4%
of older people receive a pension (2019)
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 202414Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19503; the deadliest, in 2024, killed about 14 people (magnitude 7.3)NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 198012NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

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

Be born in Vanuatu

Elsewhere in Oceania

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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