If you lived in Vanuatu instead of Rhode Island, you would:

Health

be 28.6% less likely to be obese

In Rhode Island, 31.6% of adults are obese as of 2022. In Vanuatu, that number is 22.6% of people as of 2024.

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Economy

be 15.2% more likely to be unemployed

In Rhode Island, 4.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Vanuatu, that number is 5.1% as of 2025.

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be 54.4% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Rhode Island, 10.3% live below the poverty line as of 2023. In Vanuatu, however, that number is 15.9% as of 2020.

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make 92.9% less money

Rhode Island has a GDP per capita of $56,938 as of 2024, while in Vanuatu, the GDP per capita is $4,039 as of 2025.

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Basic Needs

be 23.0% less likely to have internet access

In Rhode Island, approximately 90.8% of the population has internet access as of 2023. In Vanuatu, about 69.9% do as of 2022.

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Sources: World Bank (2025), US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), World Health Organization (2024), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), The World Factbook (2020), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2022). How we calculate this

Vanuatu: At a glance

Vanuatu is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 12,189 sq km. Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language, migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceding European exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the new name of Vanuatu was adopted.
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How big is Vanuatu compared to Rhode Island? See an in-depth size comparison.

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