Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 4.7 years longer

In Mauritania, the average life expectancy is 65 years (63 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2022. In Senegal, that number is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 years for women) as of 2022.

be 30.7% less likely to be obese

In Mauritania, 12.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Senegal, that number is 8.8% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 72.1% less likely to be unemployed

In Mauritania, 10.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Senegal, that number is 2.9% as of 2023.

make 30.2% less money

Mauritania has a GDP per capita of $6,300 as of 2023, while in Senegal, the GDP per capita is $4,400 as of 2023.

be 46.9% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Mauritania, 31.8% live below the poverty line as of 2019. In Senegal, however, that number is 46.7% as of 2011.

Life

be 43.9% less likely to die during childbirth

In Mauritania, approximately 465.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Senegal, 261.0 women do as of 2020.

be 36.4% less likely to die during infancy

In Mauritania, approximately 51.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Senegal, on the other hand, 32.4 children do as of 2022.

have 11.0% more children

In Mauritania, there are approximately 27.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Senegal, there are 30.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 16.0% less likely to be literate

In Mauritania, the literacy rate is 67.0% as of 2021. In Senegal, it is 56.3% as of 2021.

Basic Needs

be 38.6% more likely to have access to electricity

In Mauritania, approximately 49% of people have electricity access (90% in urban areas, and 1% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Senegal, that number is 68% of people on average (94% in urban areas, and 43% in rural areas) as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 2.9 times more on education

Mauritania spends 1.9% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Senegal spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 52.9% more on healthcare

Mauritania spends 3.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Senegal, that number is 5.2% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 29.6% less coastline

Mauritania has a total of 754 km of coastline. In Senegal, that number is 531 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Senegal: At a glance

Senegal is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 192,530 sq km. The French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan were merged in 1959 and granted their independence as the Mali Federation in 1960. The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. The envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. The Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-level separatist insurgency in southern Senegal since the 1980s, and several peace deals have failed to resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, Senegal remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa and has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping and regional mediation. Senegal was ruled by a Socialist Party for 40 years until Abdoulaye WADE was elected president in 2000. He was reelected in 2007 and during his two terms amended Senegal's constitution over a dozen times to increase executive power and to weaken the opposition. His decision to run for a third presidential term sparked a large public backlash that led to his defeat in a March 2012 runoff election with Macky SALL.
Read more

How big is Senegal compared to Mauritania? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Senegal.or Mauritania It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.