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

Health

live 5.7 years longer

In Nauru, the average life expectancy is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 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 92.2% less likely to be obese

In Nauru, 71.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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see 92.8% less spent on your healthcare

Nauru spends $2,474 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Rwanda spends $177 as of 2023.

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have 18.3% less access to essential health services

Nauru scores 60 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Rwanda scores 49 as of 2021.

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Economy

make 92.3% less money

Nauru has a GDP per capita of $14,640 as of 2025, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

be 16.1% less likely to die during childbirth

In Nauru, approximately 273.0 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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have 14.3% more children

In Nauru, there are approximately 24.6 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 18.5% less likely to be literate

In Nauru, the literacy rate is 96.6% as of 2023. In Rwanda, it is 78.8% as of 2022.

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be 3.8 times more likely to die during infancy

In Nauru, approximately 7.7 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 36.1% less likely to have access to electricity

In Nauru, 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 61.8% less likely to have internet access

In Nauru, approximately 83.0% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 37.3% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Nauru, approximately 98% of people have access to drinking water as of 2024. In Rwanda, 61% of people do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 20.2% less on education

Nauru spends 5.8% 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 71.8% less on healthcare

Nauru spends 18.2% 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 45.0% more likely to die in a road accident

In Nauru, road accidents kill 8.0 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 94.0% less home broadband

Nauru has 10.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (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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