Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 14.2 years longer

In Somalia, the average life expectancy is 56 years (53 years for men, 58 years for women) as of 2022. In Senegal, that number is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 2.9 times more money

Somalia has a GDP per capita of $1,500 as of 2023, while in Senegal, the GDP per capita is $4,400 as of 2023.

be 84.6% less likely to be unemployed

In Somalia, 19.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Senegal, that number is 2.9% as of 2023.

be 14.2% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Somalia, 54.4% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Senegal, however, that number is 46.7% as of 2011.

Life

be 58.0% less likely to die during childbirth

In Somalia, approximately 621.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Senegal, 261.0 women do as of 2020.

be 62.5% less likely to die during infancy

In Somalia, approximately 86.5 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 19.3% fewer children

In Somalia, there are approximately 37.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Senegal, there are 30.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 38.9% more likely to have access to electricity

In Somalia, approximately 49% of people have electricity access (71% in urban areas, and 31% 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.

be 4.0 times more likely to have internet access

In Somalia, approximately 14.5% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Senegal, about 58.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 18.3 times more on education

Somalia spends 0.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2019. Senegal spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 82.4% less coastline

Somalia has a total of 3,025 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.
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How big is Senegal compared to Somalia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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