Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Rwanda instead of United States, you would:

Health

be 84.0% less likely to be obese

In United States, 36.2% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Rwanda, that number is 5.8% of people as of 2016.

live 14.7 years less

In United States, the average life expectancy is 81 years (78 years for men, 83 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

pay a 24.2% lower top tax rate

United States has a top tax rate of 39.6% as of 2016. In Rwanda, the top tax rate is 30.0% as of 2016.

make 95.9% less money

United States has a GDP per capita of $73,600 as of 2023, while in Rwanda, the GDP per capita is $3,000 as of 2023.

be 4.1 times more likely to be unemployed

In United States, 3.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Rwanda, that number is 14.9% as of 2023.

be 2.5 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In United States, 15.1% live below the poverty line as of 2010. In Rwanda, however, that number is 38.2% as of 2016.

Life

have 2.2 times more children

In United States, there are approximately 12.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Rwanda, there are 26.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

be 12.3 times more likely to die during childbirth

In United States, approximately 21.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Rwanda, 259.0 women do as of 2020.

be 5.1 times more likely to die during infancy

In United States, approximately 5.2 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 49.4% less likely to have access to electricity

In United States, approximately 100% of the population has electricity access as of 2022. In Rwanda, 51% of the population do as of 2022.

be 67.4% less likely to have internet access

In United States, approximately 92.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Rwanda, about 30.0% do as of 2021.

be 17.2% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In United States, 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 37.7% less on education

United States spends 6.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Rwanda spends 3.8% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

spend 61.2% less on healthcare

United States spends 18.8% 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, Internal Revenue Service, 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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