Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 69.2% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Gambia, 1.3% 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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live 2.8 years longer

In Gambia, the average life expectancy is 66 years (64 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2024.

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be 65.1% less likely to be obese

In Gambia, 12.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2024.

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be 2.8 times more likely to die by suicide

Gambia has a suicide rate of 4.8 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Life

be 17.8% less likely to die during childbirth

In Gambia, approximately 354.0 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 48.3% more likely to be literate

In Gambia, the literacy rate is 51.6% as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 76.6% as of 2018.

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be 24.5% less likely to die during infancy

In Gambia, approximately 32.7 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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Basic Needs

be 18.7% less likely to have access to electricity

In Gambia, approximately 67% of people have electricity access (85% in urban areas, and 35% 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 46.3% less likely to have internet access

In Gambia, approximately 49.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Eritrea, about 26.6% do as of 2022.

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Expenditures

spend 27.3% more on healthcare

Gambia spends 2.9% 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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Geography

see 27.9 times more coastline

Gambia has a total of 80 km of coastline. In Eritrea, that number is 2,234 km.

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Safety

be 19.5% less likely to die in a road accident

In Gambia, road accidents kill 22.0 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Eritrea, they kill 17.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 67.3% less home broadband

Gambia has 0.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Eritrea has 0.2 as of 2022.

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live with 5.1 times more strain on fresh water

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

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Environment

be 13.3% less likely to die from air pollution

In Gambia, air pollution causes 90.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Eritrea, it causes 78.0 as of 2019.

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emit 22.2% more CO2

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

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

Compare further: Gambia vs. Eritrea

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Eritrea is 98.5% more expensive than Gambia overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Gambia is about 10 times smaller than Eritrea.
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Moving from Gambia to Eritrea · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→

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

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