If you lived in Rwanda instead of Dominican Republic, you would:

Health

be 81.9% less likely to be obese

In Dominican Republic, 30.8% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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be 100.0% more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Dominican Republic, 1.0% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 2.0% of people as of 2024.

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live 5.9 years less

In Dominican Republic, the average life expectancy is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 68 years (66 years for men, 70 years for women) as of 2024.

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see 84.9% less spent on your healthcare

Dominican Republic spends $1,169 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Rwanda spends $177 as of 2023.

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have 96.3% fewer doctors per person

Dominican Republic has 24.3 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Rwanda has 0.9 as of 2022.

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have 36.4% less access to essential health services

Dominican Republic scores 77 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Rwanda scores 49 as of 2021.

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be 2.1 times more likely to die by suicide

Dominican Republic has a suicide rate of 4.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Rwanda, it is 8.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 2.2 times more likely to be unemployed

In Dominican Republic, 5.1% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Rwanda, that number is 11.4% as of 2025.

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be 58.4% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Dominican Republic, 17.3% live below the poverty line as of 2025. In Rwanda, however, that number is 27.4% as of 2023.

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make 89.8% less money

Dominican Republic has a GDP per capita of $11,059 as of 2025, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

have 59.3% more children

In Dominican Republic, there are approximately 17.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Rwanda, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 84.7% more likely to die during childbirth

In Dominican Republic, approximately 124.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Rwanda, 229.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 16.2% less likely to be literate

In Dominican Republic, the literacy rate is 94.0% as of 2024. In Rwanda, it is 78.8% as of 2022.

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Basic Needs

be 35.8% less likely to have access to electricity

In Dominican Republic, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 98% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Rwanda, that number is 64% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 58% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 65.2% less likely to have internet access

In Dominican Republic, approximately 91.0% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 37.0% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Dominican Republic, approximately 97% of people have access to drinking water (98% in urban areas, and 95% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 61% of people on average (88% in urban areas, and 56% in rural areas) as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 22.6% more on education

Dominican Republic spends 3.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Rwanda spends 4.6% of total GDP on education as of 2024.

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spend 11.5% more on healthcare

Dominican Republic spends 4.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Rwanda, that number is 5.1% of GDP as of 2023.

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Safety

be 66.9% less likely to be murdered

Dominican Republic has a homicide rate of 10.9 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Rwanda, that number is 3.6 per 100,000 as of 2020.

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be 57.7% less likely to die in a road accident

In Dominican Republic, road accidents kill 27.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Rwanda, they kill 11.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

live with 48.9% less strain on fresh water

Dominican Republic withdraws 40% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Rwanda withdraws 20% as of 2022.

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find 94.6% less home broadband

Dominican Republic has 11.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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use 95.9% less electricity

Dominican Republic uses 1,867 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Rwanda uses 77 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

emit 94.6% less CO2

Dominican Republic emits 3.0 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Rwanda emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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be 2.3 times more likely to die from air pollution

In Dominican Republic, air pollution causes 27.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Rwanda, it causes 62.0 as of 2019.

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

Rwanda: At a glance

Rwanda is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 24,668 sq km. In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in a state-orchestrated genocide, in which Rwandans killed up to a million of their fellow citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi population. The genocide ended later that same year when the predominantly Tutsi RPF, operating out of Uganda and northern Rwanda, defeated the national army and Hutu militias, and established an RPF-led government of national unity. Approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and former Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF did in 1990. Rwanda held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003. Rwanda in 2009 staged a joint military operation with the Congolese Army in DRC to rout out the Hutu extremist insurgency there, and Kigali and Kinshasa restored diplomatic relations. Rwanda also joined the Commonwealth in late 2009. In January 2013, Rwanda assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.
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