Being born in Nigeria
The hardest draw of the large countries: the shortest lives and the highest child mortality.
- People
232,679,478
- Births a year
7,559,756
- Life expectancy
54.63 yrs
- GDP per person
$9,100
Birth share is not population share
The game draws birthplace by how many babies are born each year, not by how many people live somewhere. For Nigeria the two numbers are different, and the birth weighting is the larger one.
| Basis | Figure | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| Births per year | 7,559,756 | 5.7% |
| Population | 232,679,478 | 2.86% |
Nigeria takes 5.7% of the birth draw from a population that is only 2.9% of the world — the widest gap between births and people on this list, and the reason its weight in the game feels larger than its size suggests. The numbers are blunt: life expectancy of 54.6 years is the lowest here by a wide margin, and 116 of every 1,000 children die before their fifth birthday, more than four times India’s rate. GDP per person (PPP) of about $9,100 sits below India’s. Urbanisation is 63%, so most runs start in or near a city — but in informal work rather than salaried jobs.
All 24 indicators
Grouped the way the game uses them. Each figure carries its own year — this is a snapshot, not a live feed.
Population and family
The thin line is the world average (16.27 per 1,000).
| Population | 232,679,478World Bank, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Births per year | 7,559,756population × birth rate, 2024 |
| Birth rate | 32.5 per 1,000 peopleWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 4.38 children per womanWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Urban population | 63.0%World Bank, 2024 |
| Employment in agriculture | 34.1% of jobsWorld Bank, 2024 |
Education and living standards
| GDP per person (PPP) | $9,100World Bank, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Gini coefficient | 33.9 / 100World Bank, 2022 |
| Expected years of schooling | 8.7 yearsWorld Bank, 2011 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 9.7%World Bank, 2011 |
| Internet users | 41.2%World Bank, 2024 |
| Access to electricity | 62.5%World Bank, 2024 |
Health and survival
| Life expectancy at birth | 54.6 yearsWorld Bank, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Female life expectancy | 54.9 yearsWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Male life expectancy | 54.3 yearsWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Deaths before age five | 115.6 per 1,000 birthsWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Infant mortality | 69.8 per 1,000 birthsWorld Bank, 2024 |
| Health spending | 4.2% of GDPWorld Bank, 2023 |
Safety and other context
Log scale: a bar twice as long means a value ten times larger.
| Homicide rate | 15.8 per 100,000World Bank, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Tobacco use, men | 5.8%World Bank, 2024 |
| Tobacco use, women | 0.4%World Bank, 2024 |
| HIV prevalence, ages 15–49 | 1.2%World Bank / UNAIDS, 2024 |
| Physicians | 0.38 per 1,000 peopleWorld Bank, 2023 |
| Safely managed drinking water | 29.9%World Bank, 2024 |
How a life in Nigeria usually goes
A Nigerian life in the game is shorter and more exposed than the others here. Childhood illness is the first filter: the under-five rate is the highest on this list, so a meaningful share of runs end before school. Surviving children usually grow up in a large household where income is pooled, with school competing against trading or informal work. Cities dominate, but the urban experience is informal — market work, transport, small trade — rather than salaried. Later, migration and remittances appear more often than in India or China, and family obligations stretch across a wider network of relatives.
Play a life born in NigeriaQuestions
Birth odds
How often is Nigeria drawn in 1 in 8 Billion?
5.7% of starting lives, which is rank 3 of the 172 countries. The draw is weighted by the number of babies born each year, not by population.
Why does Nigeria take a different share of births than of people?
Nigeria holds 2.86% of the world’s people and 5.7% of its births. Where those two numbers differ, the birth rate explains it: 32.5 births per 1,000 people against a global average near 17.
Population and family
How many people live in Nigeria, and how many are born each year?
About 232,679,478 people and roughly 7,559,756 births a year (32.5 per 1,000). 63% live in cities.
What does family life look like at the start of a run?
The typical household follows the country’s income level and urban share: GDP per person is $9,100 (PPP), 63% urban, and 34% of jobs are in agriculture.
Health and survival
What life expectancy does the game use for Nigeria?
54.6 years overall — 54.9 for women and 54.3 for men. Individual runs end earlier or later depending on household and events.
How likely is a child to die before five?
115.6 deaths per 1,000 live births before age five, and 69.8 per 1,000 in the first year. Both are World Bank figures for 2024.
Other countries
- Being born in India — 17.6% of births
- Being born in China — 6.7% of births
- Being born in Pakistan — 5.2% of births
Birth share from the game’s own dataset (v0.8.55, matching UN World Population Prospects 2024). The 24 indicators are World Bank WDI figures, each labelled with its reference year. This site is an unofficial mirror; the official game is at 1in8b.life.