If you lived in Kenya instead of Cabo Verde, you would:

Health

be 32.6% less likely to be obese

In Cabo Verde, 16.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Kenya, that number is 11.3% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 69.3% less likely to die by suicide

Cabo Verde has a suicide rate of 14.9 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Kenya, it is 4.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

be 3.3 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Cabo Verde, 0.9% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Kenya, that number is 3.0% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

live 12.4 years less

In Cabo Verde, the average life expectancy is 76 years (73 years for men, 79 years for women) as of 2024. In Kenya, that number is 64 years (62 years for men, 66 years for women) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

see 55.5% less spent on your healthcare

Cabo Verde spends $617 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Kenya spends $274 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

have 60.4% fewer doctors per person

Cabo Verde has 7.3 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Kenya has 2.9 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

have 25.4% less access to essential health services

Cabo Verde scores 71 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Kenya scores 53 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 54.4% less likely to be unemployed

In Cabo Verde, 11.9% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Kenya, that number is 5.5% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

be 60.5% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Cabo Verde, 24.8% live below the poverty line as of 2023. In Kenya, however, that number is 39.8% as of 2022.

View global rankings →

make 59.2% less money

Cabo Verde has a GDP per capita of $5,796 as of 2025, while in Kenya, the GDP per capita is $2,363 as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Life

have 2.2 times more children

In Cabo Verde, there are approximately 12.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Kenya, there are 27.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 3.7 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Cabo Verde, approximately 40.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Kenya, 149.0 women do as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 3.2 times more likely to die during infancy

In Cabo Verde, approximately 10.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Kenya, on the other hand, 34.2 children do as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 22.7% less likely to have access to electricity

In Cabo Verde, approximately 99% of people have electricity access (96% in urban areas, and 97% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Kenya, that number is 76% of people on average (96% in urban areas, and 68% in rural areas) as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 53.2% less likely to have internet access

In Cabo Verde, approximately 74.7% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Kenya, about 35.0% do as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 28.9% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Cabo Verde, approximately 92% of people have access to drinking water (95% in urban areas, and 86% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Kenya, that number is 66% of people on average (89% in urban areas, and 56% in rural areas) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Expenditures

spend 25.6% less on healthcare

Cabo Verde spends 5.8% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Kenya, that number is 4.3% of GDP as of 2023.

View global rankings →

Geography

see 44.5% less coastline

Cabo Verde has a total of 965 km of coastline. In Kenya, that number is 536 km.

View global rankings →

Safety

be 30.3% less likely to be murdered

Cabo Verde has a homicide rate of 7.0 per 100,000 people as of 2020. In Kenya, that number is 4.9 per 100,000 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

be 70.9% more likely to die in a road accident

In Cabo Verde, road accidents kill 16.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Kenya, they kill 28.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Infrastructure

live with 44.3% less strain on fresh water

Cabo Verde withdraws 60% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Kenya withdraws 33% as of 2022.

View global rankings →

find 63.4% less home broadband

Cabo Verde has 8.3 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Kenya has 3.0 as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Environment

be 44.1% less likely to die from air pollution

In Cabo Verde, air pollution causes 59.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Kenya, it causes 33.0 as of 2019.

View global rankings →

emit 70.5% less CO2

Cabo Verde emits 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Kenya emits 0.4 tonnes as of 2024.

View global rankings →


Sources: World Bank (2020–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Kenya: At a glance

Kenya is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 569,140 sq km. Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over a constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which defeated the government's draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. African Union-sponsored mediation led by former UN Secretary General Kofi ANNAN in late February 2008 resulted in a power-sharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister. The power sharing accord included a broad reform agenda, the centerpiece of which was constitutional reform. In August 2010, Kenyans overwhelmingly adopted a new constitution in a national referendum. The new constitution introduced additional checks and balances to executive power and significant devolution of power and resources to 47 newly created counties. It also eliminated the position of prime minister following the first presidential election under the new constitution, which occurred on 4 March 2013. Uhuru KENYATTA, the son of founding president Jomo KENYATTA, won the March elections in the first round by a close margin and was sworn into office on 9 April 2013.
Read more

How big is Kenya compared to Cabo Verde? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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