Life in South Sudan: Every Number That Shapes It (1800–2100)

To be born in South Sudan today is to exist within a landscape of emerging possibility. A child born in the 2020s can expect to live 62 years on an average income of 3,800 international dollars. This is a life where the domestic horizon is expanding, as electricity at home has risen from 3 percent to 48 percent and internet access now at 29 percent connects remote villages to a global network. The daily reality is one of transition, shifting from ancestral rhythms toward an urban existence where 41 percent are now living in cities.

The historical arc reveals a steady, measurable departure from the mid-twentieth century. In the 1950s, life expectancy at birth stood at 36 years, while child mortality was 320 per 1,000 births. By the 2020s, those figures have transitioned to 62 years and 75 per 1,000 births, respectively. This trajectory of resilience is mirrored in education, which climbed from 1.2 years to 6 years of schooling, and in the economic struggle, where extreme poverty shifted from 75 percent to 35 percent.

For an individual entering this world now, the birth lottery provides a fundamentally different fabric of life than it did decades ago. Children per woman have decreased from 6.6 to 4.6, signaling a shift in family structure and demographic pressure. While annual working hours remain significant at 2,050 hours/year, the reduction in the homicide rate to 9.5 per 100,000 suggests a movement toward stability. You can now compare these milestones against the rest of the world to see how these numbers shape a human life.

Explore MYRIAD to compute your own parallel lives across the globe.