Compare
Ethiopia vs Iran
How Ethiopia and Iran compare on 39 measures, from 1789 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Iran was higher: 77.7 years against 67.3 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Iran was higher: $5,617 against $945
- Population · In 2023, Ethiopia was higher: 129 million people against 90.6 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Iran was higher: 2.09% of GDP against 0.49% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, Iran was higher: 9.05 tonnes against 0.15 tonnes
Every measure
Health
- Life expectancyEthiopia: 67.3 years in 2023Iran: 77.7 years in 2023
- Child mortalityEthiopia: 4.5 per 100 live births in 2024Iran: 1.1 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityEthiopia: 33 per 1,000 live births in 2023Iran: 9.9 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterEthiopia: 13.2% in 2022Iran: 94.2% in 2022
- DepressionEthiopia: 3.82% in 2017Iran: 5.12% in 2017
- Suicide rateEthiopia: 9.6 per 100,000 people in 2017Iran: 5.4 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationEthiopia: 129 million people in 2023Iran: 90.6 million people in 2023
- Population growthEthiopia: 2.59% a year in 2023Iran: 1.12% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateEthiopia: 3.99 births per woman in 2023Iran: 1.7 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationEthiopia: 24.1% in 2025Iran: 77.4% in 2025
- Median ageEthiopia: 18.7 years in 2023Iran: 32.9 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overEthiopia: 3.2% in 2023Iran: 7.9% in 2023
- Net migration rateEthiopia: -0.1 per 1,000 people in 2023Iran: 2.9 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingEthiopia: 0.49% of GDP in 2025Iran: 2.09% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsEthiopia: $785M in 2025Iran: $7.45B in 2025
- Military spending per personEthiopia: $4 in 2025Iran: $80 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingEthiopia: 4.1% of government spending in 2025Iran: 11.2% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelEthiopia: 138,000 people in 2020Iran: 650,000 people in 2020
- National powerEthiopia: 0.85% of world capability in 2022Iran: 1.64% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersEthiopia: 0.28% of the labour force in 2020Iran: 2.35% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsEthiopia: 63 million TIV in 2025Iran: 42 million TIV in 2024
- Arms exportsEthiopia: 17 million TIV in 1997Iran: 80 million TIV in 2025
Climate
Technology and environment
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, WHO/UNICEF, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time