8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Africa / Eastern Africa

Born in Zambia

About 1 in 193 people born in 2023 started life in Zambia. A boy can expect to live 64 years and a girl 69, up from 46 and 48 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 72% have basic drinking water.

1 in 193
odds of being born here
685,600 births · Ranked 44th of 230
64 / 69
years of life, boys / girls
Was 46 / 48 in 1950
$1,069
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 197th of 203 · extrapolated
45%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 20 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 243 in every 1,000 births to 52.

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 birth63.9 years for boys, 68.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 552.0 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year108,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles83%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV9.8%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year283 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year252 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.8 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.1.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.10UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 56 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
4%Poorest fifth
7%Second
12%Middle
20%Fourth
56%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,069 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth56% / 4% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.9% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises10.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming56% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed72% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment56% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lusaka, with 2.2 million people.

45%
live in cities
51%
have electricity at home
72%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lusaka2.2 million
Kitwe665,961
Ndola627,503
Chipata327,059
Solwezi301,370
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Bemba34%
Nyanja19%
English16%
Lozi6%
Tumbuka3%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Lusaka Province2.8 million
Copperbelt2.2 million
Southern Province610,093
North-Western548,228
Central Province513,810
Eastern Province513,734
Northern Province371,945
Luapula Province362,423
Western Province234,418
Muchinga225,391

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 0.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Zimbabwe32,680
Malawi30,614
South Africa22,946
Residents born abroad1.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostZimbabwe (32,680), Malawi (30,614), South Africa (22,946)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $403.5 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

26% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

26%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
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 20244,077Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence127 between 1989 and 1990UCDP

Now live it.

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

Be born in Zambia

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