Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 79.1% less likely to be obese

In Syria, 27.8% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Rwanda, that number is 5.8% of people as of 2016.

be 25.0 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Syria, 0.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Rwanda, that number is 2.5% of people as of 2020.

live 8.4 years less

In Syria, the average life expectancy is 74 years (73 years for men, 76 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

be 53.7% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Syria, 82.5% live below the poverty line as of 2014. In Rwanda, however, that number is 38.2% as of 2016.

be 10.3% more likely to be unemployed

In Syria, 13.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Rwanda, that number is 14.9% as of 2023.

pay a 36.4% higher top tax rate

Syria has a top tax rate of 22.0% as of 2016. In Rwanda, the top tax rate is 30.0% as of 2016.

Life

have 21.8% more children

In Syria, there are approximately 21.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Rwanda, there are 26.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

be 8.6 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Syria, approximately 30.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Rwanda, 259.0 women do as of 2020.

be 12.2% less likely to be literate

In Syria, the literacy rate is 86.4% as of 2015. In Rwanda, it is 75.9% as of 2021.

be 66.3% more likely to die during infancy

In Syria, approximately 15.9 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.

Basic Needs

be 43.1% less likely to have access to electricity

In Syria, approximately 89% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 74% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Rwanda, that number is 51% of people on average (98% in urban areas, and 38% in rural areas) as of 2022.

be 35.6% less likely to have internet access

In Syria, approximately 46.6% of the population has internet access as of 2022. In Rwanda, about 30.0% do as of 2021.

be 17.1% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Syria, approximately 100% of people have improved drinking water access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Rwanda, that number is 83% of people on average (92% in urban areas, and 81% in rural areas) as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 25.5% less on education

Syria spends 5.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2009. Rwanda spends 3.8% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry of Finance, Syria, 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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