Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Eritrea instead of Somalia, you would:

Health

live 9.9 years longer

In Somalia, the average life expectancy is 59 years (56 years for men, 62 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 71.0% less likely to be obese

In Somalia, 14.9% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Eritrea, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2024.

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see 66.2% more spent on your healthcare

Somalia spends $52 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Eritrea spends $87 as of 2023.

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have 66.7% more access to essential health services

Somalia scores 27 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Eritrea scores 45 as of 2021.

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be 66.2% more likely to die by suicide

Somalia has a suicide rate of 8.0 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Eritrea, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 68.4% less likely to be unemployed

In Somalia, 18.9% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Eritrea, that number is 6.0% as of 2025.

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Life

be 48.3% less likely to die during childbirth

In Somalia, approximately 563.0 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 62.2% less likely to die during infancy

In Somalia, approximately 65.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Eritrea, on the other hand, 24.7 children do as of 2024.

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have 32.2% fewer children

In Somalia, there are approximately 42.4 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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Geography

see 26.1% less coastline

Somalia has a total of 3,025 km of coastline. In Eritrea, that number is 2,234 km.

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Safety

be 12.4% less likely to die in a road accident

In Somalia, road accidents kill 20.2 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 54.4% less strain on fresh water

Somalia withdraws 25% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Eritrea withdraws 11% as of 2022.

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find 76.4% less home broadband

Somalia has 0.7 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Eritrea has 0.2 as of 2022.

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Environment

be 21.9% more likely to die from air pollution

In Somalia, air pollution causes 64.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Eritrea, it causes 78.0 as of 2019.

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emit 4.4 times more CO2

Somalia emits 0.1 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 (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Compare further: Somalia vs. Eritrea

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Eritrea is 77.4% more expensive than Somalia overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Somalia is about 5 times bigger than Eritrea.
→
Moving from Somalia to Eritrea · UN DESA 2020
2,156 people born in Somalia live in Eritrea.
→

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 Somalia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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