Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Mauritania instead of Liberia, you would:

Health

be 72.7% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Liberia, 1.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Mauritania, that number is 0.3% of people as of 2020.

be 28.3% more likely to be obese

In Liberia, 9.9% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Mauritania, that number is 12.7% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 3.6 times more money

Liberia has a GDP per capita of $1,400 as of 2020, while in Mauritania, the GDP per capita is $5,000 as of 2020.

be 39.1% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Liberia, 50.9% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Mauritania, however, that number is 31.0% as of 2014.

be 3.6 times more likely to be unemployed

In Liberia, 2.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2014. In Mauritania, that number is 10.2% as of 2017.

Life

be 10.8% more likely to be literate

In Liberia, the literacy rate is 48.3% as of 2017. In Mauritania, it is 53.5% as of 2017.

be 15.9% more likely to die during childbirth

In Liberia, approximately 661.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Mauritania, 766.0 women do as of 2017.

be 14.4% more likely to die during infancy

In Liberia, approximately 44.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Mauritania, on the other hand, 51.0 children do as of 2022.

have 23.4% fewer children

In Liberia, there are approximately 36.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Mauritania, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 2.7 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Liberia, approximately 12% of people have electricity access (18% in urban areas, and 6% in rural areas) as of 2019. In Mauritania, that number is 32% of people on average (56% in urban areas, and 4% in rural areas) as of 2019.

be 57.7% more likely to have internet access

In Liberia, approximately 26.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Mauritania, about 41.0% do as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 17.4% less on education

Liberia spends 2.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Mauritania spends 1.9% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 61.2% less on healthcare

Liberia spends 8.5% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Mauritania, that number is 3.3% of GDP as of 2019.

Geography

see 30.2% more coastline

Liberia has a total of 579 km of coastline. In Mauritania, that number is 754 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Mauritania: At a glance

Mauritania is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 1,030,700 sq km. Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976 but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for more than two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ deposed him and installed a military council government. AZIZ was subsequently elected president in July 2009 and sworn in the following month. AZIZ sustained injuries from an accidental shooting by his own troops in October 2012 but has continued to maintain his authority. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and white and black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, and confronts a terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Read more

How big is Mauritania compared to Liberia? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Mauritania.or Liberia It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.