If you lived in Turkey instead of Central African Republic, you would:

Health

live 19.8 years longer

In Central African Republic, the average life expectancy is 58 years (56 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 77 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.

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see 12.9 times more spent on your healthcare

Central African Republic spends $137 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Turkey spends $1,769 as of 2023.

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have 30.2 times more doctors per person

Central African Republic has 0.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Turkey has 22.4 as of 2022.

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have 2.4 times more access to essential health services

Central African Republic scores 32 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Turkey scores 76 as of 2021.

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be 70.7% less likely to die by suicide

Central African Republic has a suicide rate of 9.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Turkey, it is 2.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 2.6 times more likely to be obese

In Central African Republic, 10.9% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 28.8% of people as of 2024.

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Economy

be 81.1% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Central African Republic, 68.8% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Turkey, however, that number is 13.0% as of 2024.

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make 33.4 times more money

Central African Republic has a GDP per capita of $556 as of 2025, while in Turkey, the GDP per capita is $18,599 as of 2025.

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be 36.3% more likely to be unemployed

In Central African Republic, 6.2% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Turkey, that number is 8.5% as of 2025.

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Life

be 97.8% less likely to die during childbirth

In Central African Republic, approximately 692.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Turkey, 15.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 2.6 times more likely to be literate

In Central African Republic, the literacy rate is 37.5% as of 2020. In Turkey, it is 97.3% as of 2021.

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be 86.4% less likely to die during infancy

In Central African Republic, approximately 58.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Turkey, on the other hand, 8.0 children do as of 2024.

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have 76.2% fewer children

In Central African Republic, there are approximately 46.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Turkey, there are 11.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 5.7 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Central African Republic, approximately 18% of people have electricity access (37% in urban areas, and 2% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Turkey, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 6.5 times more likely to have internet access

In Central African Republic, approximately 13.8% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Turkey, about 89.8% do as of 2025.

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be 2.6 times more likely to have access to drinking water

In Central African Republic, approximately 36% of people have access to drinking water (48% in urban areas, and 27% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 96% of people on average (96% in urban areas, and 94% in rural areas) as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 59.8% less on healthcare

Central African Republic spends 10.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Turkey, that number is 4.3% of GDP as of 2023.

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spend 69.4% more on education

Central African Republic spends 1.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Turkey spends 3.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

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Safety

be 74.9% less likely to die in a road accident

In Central African Republic, road accidents kill 25.9 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Turkey, they kill 6.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 1171.5 times more home broadband

Central African Republic has 0.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Turkey has 23.4 as of 2024.

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live with 140.9 times more strain on fresh water

Central African Republic withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Turkey withdraws 48% as of 2022.

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Environment

be 60.2% less likely to die from air pollution

In Central African Republic, air pollution causes 98.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Turkey, it causes 39.0 as of 2019.

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emit 89.7 times more CO2

Central African Republic emits 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Turkey emits 5.4 tonnes as of 2024.

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

Turkey: At a glance

Turkey is a sovereign country in Middle East, with a total land area of approximately 769,632 sq km. Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the Kurdistan People's Congress or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2013, KGK and the Turkish Government agreed to a ceasefire that continues despite slow progress in ongoing peace talks. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community. Over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy; it began accession membership talks with the European Union in 2005.
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