If you lived in Sao Tome and Principe instead of Yemen, you would:

Health

see 2.1 times more spent on your healthcare

Yemen spends $169 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sao Tome and Principe spends $355 as of 2023.

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have 4.7 times more doctors per person

Yemen has 1.0 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Sao Tome and Principe has 4.6 as of 2022.

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have 40.5% more access to essential health services

Yemen scores 42 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sao Tome and Principe scores 59 as of 2021.

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be 79.6% less likely to die by suicide

Yemen has a suicide rate of 4.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sao Tome and Principe, it is 0.9 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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be 34.5% more likely to be obese

In Yemen, 13.3% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 17.9% of people as of 2024.

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Economy

be 47.3% less likely to be unemployed

In Yemen, 17.3% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 9.1% as of 2025.

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be 14.2% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Yemen, 48.6% live below the poverty line as of 2014. In Sao Tome and Principe, however, that number is 55.5% as of 2017.

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Life

be 36.4% less likely to die during childbirth

In Yemen, approximately 118.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sao Tome and Principe, 75.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 72.8% less likely to die during infancy

In Yemen, approximately 33.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, on the other hand, 9.2 children do as of 2024.

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have 18.2% fewer children

In Yemen, there are approximately 34.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sao Tome and Principe, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 3.3 times more likely to have internet access

In Yemen, approximately 17.7% of the population has internet access as of 2022. In Sao Tome and Principe, about 59.1% do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 40.5% less on healthcare

Yemen spends 9.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 5.8% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 89.0% less coastline

Yemen has a total of 1,906 km of coastline. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 209 km.

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Safety

be 49.2% less likely to be murdered

Yemen has a homicide rate of 6.3 per 100,000 people as of 2013. In Sao Tome and Principe, that number is 3.2 per 100,000 as of 2011.

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be 60.7% less likely to die in a road accident

In Yemen, road accidents kill 29.8 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sao Tome and Principe, they kill 11.7 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 2.4 times more home broadband

Yemen has 1.3 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Sao Tome and Principe has 3.0 as of 2024.

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live with 98.9% less strain on fresh water

Yemen withdraws 170% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sao Tome and Principe withdraws 2% as of 2022.

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Environment

be 22.0% less likely to die from air pollution

In Yemen, air pollution causes 109.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sao Tome and Principe, it causes 85.0 as of 2019.

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emit 2.4 times more CO2

Yemen emits 0.3 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sao Tome and Principe emits 0.6 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2017–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2011–2022), The World Factbook (2014), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Sao Tome and Principe: At a glance

Sao Tome and Principe is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 964 sq km. Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century - all grown with African plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and two failed coup attempts in 1995 and 2003. In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA. The new government of Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira DA COSTA is entirely composed of opposition party members with limited experience in governance. New oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea may attract increased attention to the small island nation.
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