Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 5.1 years longer

In Burundi, the average life expectancy is 64 years (62 years for men, 66 years for women) as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 16.4% less likely to be obese

In Burundi, 5.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

have 12.8% more doctors per person

Burundi has 0.8 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Eritrea has 0.9 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

see 13.5% less spent on your healthcare

Burundi spends $100 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Eritrea spends $87 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 72.9% more likely to die by suicide

Burundi has a suicide rate of 7.7 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 6.5 times more likely to be unemployed

In Burundi, 0.9% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Eritrea, that number is 6.0% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Life

be 25.8% less likely to die during childbirth

In Burundi, approximately 392.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Eritrea, 291.0 women do as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 19.0% less likely to die during infancy

In Burundi, approximately 30.5 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.

View global rankings →

have 13.5% fewer children

In Burundi, there are approximately 33.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Eritrea, there are 28.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 4.7 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Burundi, approximately 12% of people have electricity access (65% in urban areas, and 2% 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.

View global rankings →

be 3.1 times more likely to have internet access

In Burundi, approximately 8.6% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Eritrea, about 26.6% do as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Expenditures

spend 59.5% less on healthcare

Burundi spends 9.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Eritrea, that number is 3.7% of GDP as of 2023.

View global rankings →

Safety

be 43.9% more likely to die in a road accident

In Burundi, road accidents kill 12.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Eritrea, they kill 17.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Infrastructure

find 8.5 times more home broadband

Burundi has 0.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Eritrea has 0.2 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Environment

emit 3.1 times more CO2

Burundi emits 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Eritrea emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

View global rankings →

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

Compare further: Burundi vs. Eritrea

Cost of Living Comparison · 6 categories - 2026 data
Eritrea is 2.3% more expensive than Burundi overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Burundi is about 4.2 times smaller than Eritrea.
→
Moving from Burundi to Eritrea · UN DESA 2020
913 people born in Burundi live in Eritrea.
→

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.
Read more

How big is Eritrea compared to Burundi? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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