Life in Rwanda
Sub-Saharan Africa · low-income · capital Kigali
World Bank country code RWA · ISO RW · Data sources
Live a life in Rwanda
Start from this country's own statistics — its mortality curve, its income level, its school system — and play the years out: what happens if you leave school at fifteen, or take the job that is offered, or move to the capital.
Start a life in RwandaThe statistics behind the simulation
Each figure shows the year it was observed. A missing row means the World Bank does not report that indicator for Rwanda — not that the value is zero.
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
Life expectancy at birth The average number of years a newborn would live if the year's mortality rates held for their whole life. | 68.0 years | 2024 |
Infant mortality Babies who die before their first birthday, per 1,000 live births. | 29.4 per 1,000 | 2024 |
Under-5 mortality Children who die before their fifth birthday, per 1,000 live births. | 37.7 per 1,000 | 2024 |
Fertility rate The average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime. | 3.65 | 2024 |
GDP per capita (PPP) Purchasing-power-adjusted output per person — the best single measure of how much a person in this country can buy. | $3,785 | 2024 |
Adult literacy rate The share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write a short simple statement about their everyday life. | 78.8% | 2022 |
Government education spending Public spending on education as a share of total output. | 4.6% | 2024 |
Government health spending Public spending on health as a share of total output. | 5.1% | 2023 |
Urban population The share of people living in urban areas. | 29.9% | 2024 |
Poverty rate The share of people living below the national poverty line. | 38.6% | 2023 |
Youth unemployment The share of the labour force aged 15–24 that is without work and looking for it. | 11.3% | 2024 |
Population Total population. | 14,256,567 | 2024 |
Birth rate Crude birth rate: births per 1,000 population per year. | 28.1 | 2024 |
Secondary school enrolment Total enrolment in secondary school, regardless of age, as a percentage of the official age group. | 48.8% | 2024 |
Female labour force participation The share of women aged 15 and over in work or actively looking for work. | 57.1% | 2024 |
Maternal mortality Deaths during pregnancy and childbirth per 100,000 live births. | 229 per 100,000 | 2023 |
What these numbers mean
A newborn in Rwanda can expect to live 68.0 years, below the dataset median of 74.7 years. Infant mortality runs at 29.4 deaths per 1,000 live births (2024), so roughly 29 in every thousand babies do not reach their first birthday. Output per person, adjusted for purchasing power, is $3,785 (2024) — that is a low income base, and every wage in the simulation is scaled to it, and it is what sets the scale of every income the simulation can offer. The fertility rate is 3.65 births per woman (2024) — above the replacement level, so a family in the simulation is likely to have several children. Adult literacy is 78.8% (2022), and schooling in the simulation is the default path rather than the exception. 38.6% of the population lives below the national poverty line (2023). Public spending on education is 4.6% of output (2024), which is the share of national resources the simulation's schooling decisions are competing for. 29.9% of people live in urban areas (2024), so most lives here begin in a village or a small town, and moving is one of the larger decisions available.
In the simulation, income is expressed as a share of what an average worker in Rwanda earns, so the same household choice buys very different amounts in different countries. Median output per person across this dataset is $21,026.
Other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
Where Rwanda sits within Sub-Saharan Africa
Of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that report life expectancy, Rwanda sits above the regional median, at 68.0 years against a regional median of 64.3. 10 countries report a higher figure and 37 report a lower one.
| Indicator | Rwanda | Sub-Saharan Africa median | Sub-Saharan Africa range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 68.0 | 64.3 | 54.6 – 76.3 |
| Infant mortality | 29.4 | 37.2 | 9.2 – 71.9 |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $3,785 | $4,224 | $1,193 – $33,339 |
| Adult literacy | 78.8% | 70.4% | 30.6% – 94.3% |
| Fertility rate | 3.6 | 3.9 | 1.4 – 6.0 |
| Urban population | 29.9% | 44.4% | 17.3% – 91.9% |
| Education spending | 4.6% | 3.3% | 0.0% – 9.1% |
Ranges cover every country in the region that reports the indicator, in the year each country last reported it. Medians are unweighted, so a large country and a small one count the same.
Where Rwanda shows up in the topics
These pages put Rwanda's figures next to the other 216 countries, for the indicators that shape the decisions in the simulation.
- Child marriage around the worldFertility rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Gender and schooling around the worldAdult literacy rate · Secondary school enrolment · Female labour-force participation
- Child labour statistics by countrySecondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate · Poverty rate
- Schooling costs and enrolment by countryGovernment education spending · Secondary school enrolment · Adult literacy rate
- Fertility and family size by countryFertility rate · Birth rate · Maternal mortality
- Marriage and family life by countryFertility rate · Female labour-force participation · Life expectancy at birth
About these figures
The statistics above are national averages from the World Bank Open Data, retrieved 2026-11-01 and released under World Bank data is released under CC BY 4.0. National averages do not describe any individual life, and this page does not rank Rwanda against other countries. Life expectancy reflects a country's mortality conditions as a whole, which include healthcare access, income distribution, nutrition, sanitation and public safety — the simulation uses it as a risk curve, not as a measure of the people who live there.