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

Health

be 51.9% less likely to be obese

In Senegal, 11.6% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 5.6% of people as of 2024.

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be 6.7 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Senegal, 0.3% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Rwanda, that number is 2.0% of people as of 2024.

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live 0.9 years less

In Senegal, the average life expectancy is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 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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see 13.9% less spent on your healthcare

Senegal spends $206 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Rwanda spends $177 as of 2023.

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have 17.4% fewer doctors per person

Senegal has 1.1 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Rwanda has 0.9 as of 2022.

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be 28.4% more likely to die by suicide

Senegal has a suicide rate of 6.8 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Rwanda, it is 8.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 26.9% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Senegal, 37.5% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Rwanda, however, that number is 27.4% as of 2023.

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be 4.2 times more likely to be unemployed

In Senegal, 2.7% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Rwanda, that number is 11.4% as of 2025.

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make 42.5% less money

Senegal has a GDP per capita of $1,955 as of 2025, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $1,124 as of 2025.

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Life

be 56.4% more likely to be literate

In Senegal, the literacy rate is 50.4% as of 2023. In Rwanda, it is 78.8% as of 2022.

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Basic Needs

be 13.9% less likely to have access to electricity

In Senegal, approximately 74% of people have electricity access (96% in urban areas, and 56% 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 47.3% less likely to have internet access

In Senegal, approximately 60.1% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Rwanda, about 31.7% do as of 2024.

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be 30.3% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Senegal, approximately 88% of people have access to drinking water (95% in urban areas, and 81% 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 25.2% less on education

Senegal spends 6.2% 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 18.7% more on healthcare

Senegal spends 4.3% 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 44.2% less likely to die in a road accident

In Senegal, road accidents kill 20.8 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 85.1% less home broadband

Senegal has 4.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Rwanda has 0.6 as of 2024.

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live with 24.1% more strain on fresh water

Senegal withdraws 16% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Rwanda withdraws 20% as of 2022.

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use 81.3% less electricity

Senegal uses 410 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Rwanda uses 77 kWh as of 2023.

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Environment

emit 79.2% less CO2

Senegal emits 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Rwanda emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), World Health Organization (2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021). 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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