Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 8.3 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Laos, 0.3% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Rwanda, that number is 2.5% of people as of 2020.

live 2.3 years less

In Laos, the average life expectancy is 68 years (66 years for men, 70 years for women) as of 2022. In Rwanda, that number is 66 years (64 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 69.6% less money

Laos has a GDP per capita of $7,900 as of 2022, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $2,400 as of 2022.

be 3.9 times more likely to be unemployed

In Laos, 3.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Rwanda, that number is 15.1% as of 2022.

be 2.1 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Laos, 18.3% live below the poverty line as of 2018. In Rwanda, however, that number is 38.2% as of 2016.

pay a 25.0% higher top tax rate

Laos has a top tax rate of 24.0% as of 2016. In Rwanda, the top tax rate is 30.0% as of 2016.

Life

be 30.1% less likely to die during infancy

In Laos, approximately 37.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Rwanda, on the other hand, 26.4 children do as of 2022.

have 33.5% more children

In Laos, there are approximately 19.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Rwanda, there are 26.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

be 2.1 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Laos, approximately 126.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Rwanda, 259.0 women do as of 2020.

be 12.9% less likely to be literate

In Laos, the literacy rate is 87.1% as of 2021. In Rwanda, it is 75.9% as of 2021.

Basic Needs

be 51.3% less likely to have access to electricity

In Laos, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (98% in urban areas, and 93% in rural areas) as of 2021. In Rwanda, that number is 49% of people on average (98% in urban areas, and 38% in rural areas) as of 2021.

be 51.6% less likely to have internet access

In Laos, approximately 62.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Rwanda, about 30.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 65.2% more on education

Laos spends 2.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Rwanda spends 3.8% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

spend 2.7 times more on healthcare

Laos spends 2.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Rwanda, that number is 7.3% of GDP as of 2020.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry of Finance, Rwanda Revenue Authority.

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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