If you lived in Eritrea instead of Botswana, you would:

Health

be 97.5% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Botswana, 15.7% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 0.4% of people as of 2024.

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be 78.1% less likely to be obese

In Botswana, 19.8% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2024.

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see 93.4% less spent on your healthcare

Botswana spends $1,310 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Eritrea spends $87 as of 2023.

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have 76.8% fewer doctors per person

Botswana has 3.8 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Eritrea has 0.9 as of 2022.

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have 18.2% less access to essential health services

Botswana scores 55 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Eritrea scores 45 as of 2021.

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be 58.4% more likely to die by suicide

Botswana has a suicide rate of 8.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 75.6% less likely to be unemployed

In Botswana, 24.5% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Eritrea, that number is 6.0% as of 2025.

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Life

be 23.1% less likely to die during infancy

In Botswana, approximately 32.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Eritrea, on the other hand, 24.7 children do as of 2024.

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have 17.9% more children

In Botswana, there are approximately 24.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Eritrea, there are 28.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 87.7% more likely to die during childbirth

In Botswana, approximately 155.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Eritrea, 291.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 13.4% less likely to be literate

In Botswana, the literacy rate is 88.5% as of 2015. In Eritrea, it is 76.6% as of 2018.

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Basic Needs

be 28.4% less likely to have access to electricity

In Botswana, approximately 76% of people have electricity access (98% in urban areas, and 25% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Eritrea, that number is 54% of people on average (77% in urban areas, and 37% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 53.7% less likely to have internet access

In Botswana, approximately 57.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Eritrea, about 26.6% do as of 2022.

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Expenditures

spend 41.2% less on healthcare

Botswana spends 6.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Eritrea, that number is 3.7% of GDP as of 2023.

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Infrastructure

find 97.7% less home broadband

Botswana has 7.4 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Eritrea has 0.2 as of 2022.

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live with 5.0 times more strain on fresh water

Botswana withdraws 2% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Eritrea withdraws 11% as of 2022.

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use 92.5% less electricity

Botswana uses 1,641 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Eritrea uses 123 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

emit 92.0% less CO2

Botswana emits 2.7 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Eritrea emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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be 41.8% more likely to die from air pollution

In Botswana, air pollution causes 55.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Eritrea, it causes 78.0 as of 2019.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2022), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook (2015–2018). How we calculate this

Eritrea: At a glance

Eritrea is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 101,000 sq km. After independence from Italian colonial control in 1941 and 10 years of British administrative control, the UN established Eritrea as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afworki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been highly autocratic and repressive. His government has created a highly militarized society by pursuing an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service, sometimes of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. A UN peacekeeping operation was established that monitored a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) created in April 2003 was tasked "to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902, and 1908) and applicable international law." The EEBC on 30 November 2007 remotely demarcated the border, assigning the town of Badme to Eritrea, despite Ethiopia's maintaining forces there from the time of the 1998-2000 war. Eritrea insisted that the UN terminate its peacekeeping mission on 31 July 2008. Eritrea has accepted the EEBC's "virtual demarcation" decision and repeatedly called on Ethiopia to remove its troops. Ethiopia has not accepted the demarcation decision, and neither party has entered into meaningful dialogue to resolve the impasse. Eritrea is subject to several UN Security Council Resolutions (from 2009, 2011, and 2012) imposing various military and economic sanctions, in view of evidence that it has supported armed opposition groups in the region.
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