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

Health

live 8.5 years longer

In Senegal, the average life expectancy is 69 years (67 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 77 years (75 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2024.

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see 8.6 times more spent on your healthcare

Senegal spends $206 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Turkey spends $1,769 as of 2023.

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have 20.5 times more doctors per person

Senegal has 1.1 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Turkey has 22.4 as of 2022.

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have 52.0% more access to essential health services

Senegal scores 50 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Turkey scores 76 as of 2021.

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be 60.2% less likely to die by suicide

Senegal has a suicide rate of 6.8 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Turkey, it is 2.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 2.5 times more likely to be obese

In Senegal, 11.6% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Turkey, that number is 28.8% of people as of 2024.

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Economy

be 65.3% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Senegal, 37.5% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Turkey, however, that number is 13.0% as of 2024.

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make 9.5 times more money

Senegal has a GDP per capita of $1,955 as of 2025, while in Turkey, the GDP per capita is $18,599 as of 2025.

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be 3.1 times more likely to be unemployed

In Senegal, 2.7% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Turkey, that number is 8.5% as of 2025.

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Life

be 93.7% less likely to die during childbirth

In Senegal, approximately 237.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Turkey, 15.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 93.1% more likely to be literate

In Senegal, the literacy rate is 50.4% as of 2023. In Turkey, it is 97.3% as of 2021.

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be 72.3% less likely to die during infancy

In Senegal, approximately 28.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Turkey, on the other hand, 8.0 children do as of 2024.

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have 62.3% fewer children

In Senegal, there are approximately 29.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Turkey, there are 11.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 34.8% more 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 Turkey, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 49.3% more likely to have internet access

In Senegal, approximately 60.1% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Turkey, about 89.8% do as of 2025.

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Expenditures

spend 49.7% less on education

Senegal spends 6.2% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Turkey spends 3.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

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Geography

see 13.6 times more coastline

Senegal has a total of 531 km of coastline. In Turkey, that number is 7,200 km.

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Safety

be 68.8% less likely to die in a road accident

In Senegal, road accidents kill 20.8 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Turkey, they kill 6.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 5.8 times more home broadband

Senegal has 4.0 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Turkey has 23.4 as of 2024.

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use 9.1 times more electricity

Senegal uses 410 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Turkey uses 3,731 kWh as of 2024.

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live with 2.9 times more strain on fresh water

Senegal withdraws 16% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Turkey withdraws 48% as of 2022.

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Environment

be 40.0% less likely to die from air pollution

In Senegal, air pollution causes 65.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Turkey, it causes 39.0 as of 2019.

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emit 7.0 times more CO2

Senegal emits 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Turkey emits 5.4 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Turkey: At a glance

Turkey is a sovereign country in Middle East, with a total land area of approximately 769,632 sq km. Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the Kurdistan People's Congress or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey mainly to northern Iraq. In 2013, KGK and the Turkish Government agreed to a ceasefire that continues despite slow progress in ongoing peace talks. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community. Over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy; it began accession membership talks with the European Union in 2005.
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