Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Eritrea instead of Puerto Rico, you would:

Health

be 89.8% less likely to be obese

In Puerto Rico, 42.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2024.

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live 13.0 years less

In Puerto Rico, the average life expectancy is 82 years (78 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2024.

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be 2.4 times more likely to die by suicide

Puerto Rico has a suicide rate of 5.4 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Life

have 5.0 times more children

In Puerto Rico, there are approximately 5.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Eritrea, there are 28.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 26.5 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Puerto Rico, approximately 11.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Eritrea, 291.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 17.1% less likely to be literate

In Puerto Rico, the literacy rate is 92.4% as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 76.6% as of 2018.

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be 4.1 times more likely to die during infancy

In Puerto Rico, approximately 6.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Eritrea, on the other hand, 24.7 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 45.6% less likely to have access to electricity

In Puerto Rico, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Eritrea, that number is 54% of people on average (77% in urban areas, and 37% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 69.5% less likely to have internet access

In Puerto Rico, approximately 87.3% of the population has internet access as of 2022. In Eritrea, about 26.6% do as of 2022.

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Geography

see 4.5 times more coastline

Puerto Rico has a total of 501 km of coastline. In Eritrea, that number is 2,234 km.

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Safety

be 41.6% more likely to die in a road accident

In Puerto Rico, road accidents kill 12.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Eritrea, they kill 17.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

live with 42.8% less strain on fresh water

Puerto Rico withdraws 20% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Eritrea withdraws 11% as of 2022.

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find 99.4% less home broadband

Puerto Rico has 28.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Eritrea has 0.2 as of 2022.

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Environment

emit 95.4% less CO2

Puerto Rico emits 4.8 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Eritrea emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2024), The World Factbook (2018–2022), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Puerto Rico vs. Eritrea

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Eritrea is 52.7% cheaper than Puerto Rico overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Puerto Rico is about 13 times smaller than Eritrea.
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Moving from Puerto Rico to Eritrea · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Eritrea: At a glance

Eritrea is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 101,000 sq km. After independence from Italian colonial control in 1941 and 10 years of British administrative control, the UN established Eritrea as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afworki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been highly autocratic and repressive. His government has created a highly militarized society by pursuing an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service, sometimes of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. A UN peacekeeping operation was established that monitored a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) created in April 2003 was tasked "to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902, and 1908) and applicable international law." The EEBC on 30 November 2007 remotely demarcated the border, assigning the town of Badme to Eritrea, despite Ethiopia's maintaining forces there from the time of the 1998-2000 war. Eritrea insisted that the UN terminate its peacekeeping mission on 31 July 2008. Eritrea has accepted the EEBC's "virtual demarcation" decision and repeatedly called on Ethiopia to remove its troops. Ethiopia has not accepted the demarcation decision, and neither party has entered into meaningful dialogue to resolve the impasse. Eritrea is subject to several UN Security Council Resolutions (from 2009, 2011, and 2012) imposing various military and economic sanctions, in view of evidence that it has supported armed opposition groups in the region.
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How big is Eritrea compared to Puerto Rico? See an in-depth size comparison.

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