Sub-Saharan Africa

A life that begins in Cote d'Ivoire

One in every 130 babies in the world is born here: about 1,032,507 a year, 2 a minute.

Population: 32,711,547
Births a year: 1,032,507
Life expectancy: 62.2
Children who die before 5 (per 1,000): 64.5

Health and survival

Life expectancy, women (years)
64.3
World: 75.9
Life expectancy, men (years)
60.2
World: 71
Babies who die before 1 (per 1,000)
44.8
World: 27.8
Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)
64.5
World: 37.6
Mothers who die in childbirth (per 100,000 births)
359
World: 189
Adults living with HIV (%)
1.7
World: 0.7
Adults who smoke (%)
7
World: 20
Alcohol per adult (litres a year)
2.9
World: 4.6
Road deaths (per 100,000)
24.1
World: 17
Homicides (per 100,000)
≈ 5.2
World: 4.7

Family and school

Children per woman
4.23
World: 2.85
Women married before 18 (%)
26
World: 18
Children in primary school (%)
90
World: 89
Secondary school enrolment (%)
65
World: 81
Higher education enrolment (%)
12
World: 48
Children aged 7–14 who work (%)
36.5
World: 11.9

Money and work

Income per person (PPP)
$7,015
World: $21,797
Income inequality (Gini, 0–100)
35
World: 34
Living on under $3 a day (%)
20.8
World: 9.9
Unemployment (%)
2.3
World: 5.1
Jobs in farming (%)
45
World: 27
Women in the workforce (%)
59
World: 48
Health costs paid out of pocket (%)
32
World: 37

Home and connection

Living in cities (%)
55
World: 58
Access to electricity (%)
73
World: 92
Safe drinking water (%)
77
World: 91
Internet users (%)
41
World: 72

Peace and wellbeing

Life satisfaction (0–10)
5.15
World: 5.4
Deaths in armed conflict (per 100,000 a year)
0
World: 2.43
Refugees abroad (% of population)
0.1
World: 0.34

≈ Estimated from the region

From 1960 to 2050

How life here has changed, and where UN projections expect it to go. The dashed part is a projection.

Life expectancy

1960: 37.3 → 2026: 62 → 2050: 66

World

Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)

1960: 319 → 2026: 61 → 2050: 27

World

Children per woman

1960: 7.7 → 2026: 4.1 → 2050: 3.1

World

Living in cities (%)

1960: 18 → 2026: 55 → 2050: 73

World

Nobody chooses where they are born

In the game, the country is drawn by the real share of births: Cote d'Ivoire comes up about once in every 130 lives.

Sources: World Bank (WDI), UN World Population Prospects, Our World in Data, World Happiness Report, UCDP and PRIO. Updated 2026-10-18.