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

Health

live 1.4 years longer

In Kiribati, the average life expectancy is 67 years (65 years for men, 68 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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be 87.8% less likely to be obese

In Kiribati, 45.6% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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be 50.3% less likely to die by suicide

Kiribati has a suicide rate of 17.5 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Rwanda, it is 8.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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see 55.8% less spent on your healthcare

Kiribati spends $401 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Rwanda spends $177 as of 2023.

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Economy

be 5.0 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Kiribati, 5.5% live below the poverty line as of 2023. In Rwanda, however, that number is 27.4% as of 2023.

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make 56.1% less money

Kiribati has a GDP per capita of $2,559 as of 2025, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

be 24.2% less likely to die during infancy

In Kiribati, approximately 38.8 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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have 10.9% more children

In Kiribati, there are approximately 25.3 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 Kiribati, 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 20.1% less likely to be literate

In Kiribati, the literacy rate is 98.6% as of 2020. In Rwanda, it is 78.8% as of 2022.

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Basic Needs

be 33.4% less likely to have access to electricity

In Kiribati, approximately 96% of people have electricity access (89% in urban areas, and 94% 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 64.6% less likely to have internet access

In Kiribati, approximately 89.4% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 22.4% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Kiribati, approximately 79% of people have access to drinking water (90% in urban areas, and 64% 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 71.9% less on education

Kiribati spends 16.4% 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 53.2% less on healthcare

Kiribati spends 10.9% 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 87.1% more likely to die in a road accident

In Kiribati, road accidents kill 6.2 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Rwanda, they kill 11.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 20.0 times more home broadband

Kiribati has 0.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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Environment

emit 72.9% less CO2

Kiribati emits 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Rwanda emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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be 26.5% more likely to die from air pollution

In Kiribati, air pollution causes 49.0 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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