Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Djibouti instead of Saudi Arabia, you would:

Health

be 61.9% less likely to be obese

In Saudi Arabia, 35.4% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Djibouti, that number is 13.5% of people as of 2016.

live 11.4 years less

In Saudi Arabia, the average life expectancy is 77 years (75 years for men, 78 years for women) as of 2022. In Djibouti, that number is 65 years (63 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 86.9% less money

Saudi Arabia has a GDP per capita of $49,600 as of 2023, while in Djibouti, the GDP per capita is $6,500 as of 2023.

be 5.4 times more likely to be unemployed

In Saudi Arabia, 4.9% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Djibouti, that number is 26.3% as of 2023.

Life

have 60.3% more children

In Saudi Arabia, there are approximately 13.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Djibouti, there are 21.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 14.6 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 16.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Djibouti, 234.0 women do as of 2020.

be 3.8 times more likely to die during infancy

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 12.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Djibouti, on the other hand, 46.9 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 35.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 98% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Djibouti, that number is 65% of people on average (54% in urban areas, and 36% in rural areas) as of 2022.

be 31.0% less likely to have internet access

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 100.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Djibouti, about 69.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 53.8% less on education

Saudi Arabia spends 7.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Djibouti spends 3.6% of total GDP on education as of 2018.

spend 64.9% less on healthcare

Saudi Arabia spends 5.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Djibouti, that number is 2.0% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 88.1% less coastline

Saudi Arabia has a total of 2,640 km of coastline. In Djibouti, that number is 314 km.

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

Djibouti: At a glance

Djibouti is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 23,180 sq km. The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian one-party state and proceeded to serve as president until 1999. Unrest among the Afar minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in 2001 with a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Somali Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti's first multiparty presidential elections resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH as president; he was reelected to a second term in 2005 and extended his tenure in office via a constitutional amendment, which allowed him to begin a third term in 2011. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and serves as an important shipping portal for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands and transshipments between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The government holds longstanding ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country, and has strong ties with the United States. Djibouti hosts several thousand members of US armed services at US-run Camp Lemonnier.
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How big is Djibouti compared to Saudi Arabia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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