If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Philippines, you would:

Health

be 75.4% less likely to die by suicide

Philippines has a suicide rate of 3.5 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sao Tome and Principe, it is 0.9 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 86.3% more likely to be obese

In Philippines, 9.6% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 17.9% of people as of 2024.

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see 36.6% less spent on your healthcare

Philippines spends $560 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sao Tome and Principe spends $355 as of 2023.

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have 41.4% fewer doctors per person

Philippines has 7.9 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2021. Sao Tome and Principe has 4.6 as of 2022.

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Economy

be 4.1 times more likely to be unemployed

In Philippines, 2.2% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 9.1% as of 2025.

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Life

be 57.6% less likely to die during infancy

In Philippines, approximately 21.7 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, on the other hand, 9.2 children do as of 2024.

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have 76.8% more children

In Philippines, there are approximately 15.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 17.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Philippines, approximately 98% of people have electricity access (98% in urban areas, and 98% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 81% of people on average (82% in urban areas, and 70% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 12.1% less likely to have internet access

In Philippines, approximately 67.3% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, about 59.1% do as of 2024.

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be 18.7% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Philippines, approximately 96% of people have access to drinking water (98% in urban areas, and 94% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 78% of people on average (79% in urban areas, and 73% in rural areas) as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 26.7% more on education

Philippines spends 4.0% of its total GDP on education as of 2025. Sao Tome and Principe spends 5.0% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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spend 13.1% more on healthcare

Philippines spends 5.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 5.8% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 99.4% less coastline

Philippines has a total of 36,289 km of coastline. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 209 km.

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Safety

be 20.6% more likely to die in a road accident

In Philippines, road accidents kill 9.7 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sao Tome and Principe, they kill 11.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

live with 93.2% less strain on fresh water

Philippines withdraws 28% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sao Tome and Principe withdraws 2% as of 2022.

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find 58.1% less home broadband

Philippines has 7.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Sao Tome and Principe has 3.0 as of 2024.

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Environment

emit 58.0% less CO2

Philippines emits 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sao Tome and Principe emits 0.6 tonnes as of 2024.

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

Sao Tome and Principe: At a glance

Sao Tome and Principe is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 964 sq km. Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century - all grown with African plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and two failed coup attempts in 1995 and 2003. In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA. The new government of Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira DA COSTA is entirely composed of opposition party members with limited experience in governance. New oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea may attract increased attention to the small island nation.
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How big is Sao Tome and Principe compared to Philippines? See an in-depth size comparison.

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