Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Rwanda instead of Greenland, you would:

Health

be 80.1% less likely to be obese

In Greenland, 28.1% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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live 2.2 years less

In Greenland, the average life expectancy is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 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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Economy

make 98.1% less money

Greenland has a GDP per capita of $58,499 as of 2023, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

have 2.3 times more children

In Greenland, there are approximately 12.0 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 3.4 times more likely to die during infancy

In Greenland, approximately 8.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Rwanda, on the other hand, 29.4 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 36.1% less likely to have access to electricity

In Greenland, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% 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 54.4% less likely to have internet access

In Greenland, approximately 69.5% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 38.6% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Greenland, approximately 100% of people have access to drinking water (100% in urban areas, and 100% 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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Infrastructure

find 98.1% less home broadband

Greenland has 32.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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Environment

emit 98.5% less CO2

Greenland emits 10.4 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Rwanda emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook (2021–2022). How we calculate this

Compare further: Greenland vs. Rwanda

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Rwanda is 65.3% cheaper than Greenland overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Greenland is about 82 times bigger than Rwanda.
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Moving from Greenland to Rwanda · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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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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