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

Health

be 30.3% less likely to be obese

In India, 8.0% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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be 30.9% less likely to die by suicide

India has a suicide rate of 12.6 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Rwanda, it is 8.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 10.0 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In India, 0.2% 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 4.2 years less

In India, the average life expectancy is 72 years (71 years for men, 74 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 48.9% less spent on your healthcare

India spends $346 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Rwanda spends $177 as of 2023.

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have 87.6% fewer doctors per person

India has 7.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2020. Rwanda has 0.9 as of 2022.

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have 22.2% less access to essential health services

India scores 63 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Rwanda scores 49 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 2.7 times more likely to be unemployed

In India, 4.2% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Rwanda, that number is 11.4% as of 2025.

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make 58.4% less money

India has a GDP per capita of $2,702 as of 2025, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

have 75.6% more children

In India, there are approximately 16.0 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 2.9 times more likely to die during childbirth

In India, approximately 80.0 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 26.2% more likely to die during infancy

In India, approximately 23.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Rwanda, on the other hand, 29.4 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 35.8% less likely to have access to electricity

In India, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 99% 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 54.7% less likely to have internet access

In India, approximately 70.0% of the population has internet access as of 2025. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 35.9% less likely to have access to drinking water

In India, approximately 96% of people have access to drinking water (97% 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 12.4% more on education

India spends 4.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Rwanda spends 4.6% of total GDP on education as of 2024.

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spend 53.6% more on healthcare

India spends 3.3% 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 24.7% less likely to die in a road accident

In India, road accidents kill 15.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Rwanda, they kill 11.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 28.0% more likely to be murdered

India has a homicide rate of 2.8 per 100,000 people as of 2022. In Rwanda, that number is 3.6 per 100,000 as of 2020.

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Infrastructure

live with 69.6% less strain on fresh water

India withdraws 66% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Rwanda withdraws 20% as of 2022.

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find 81.0% less home broadband

India has 3.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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use 93.5% less electricity

India uses 1,182 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Rwanda uses 77 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

be 25.3% less likely to die from air pollution

In India, air pollution causes 83.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Rwanda, it causes 62.0 as of 2019.

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emit 92.6% less CO2

India emits 2.2 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 (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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