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Gambia vs Senegal
How Gambia and Senegal compare on 38 measures, from 1820 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Senegal was higher: 68.7 years against 65.9 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Senegal was higher: $1,582 against $786
- Population · In 2023, Senegal was higher: 18.1 million people against 2.7 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Senegal was higher: 1.56% of GDP against 0.57% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, Senegal was higher: 0.77 tonnes against 0.18 tonnes
Every measure
Health
- Life expectancyGambia: 65.9 years in 2023Senegal: 68.7 years in 2023
- Child mortalityGambia: 4.2 per 100 live births in 2024Senegal: 3.7 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityGambia: 29.5 per 1,000 live births in 2023Senegal: 24.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterGambia: 47.7% in 2022Senegal: 26.7% in 2022
- DepressionGambia: 4.16% in 2017Senegal: 3.37% in 2017
- Suicide rateGambia: 9.7 per 100,000 people in 2017Senegal: 12.9 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationGambia: 2.7 million people in 2023Senegal: 18.1 million people in 2023
- Population growthGambia: 2.3% a year in 2023Senegal: 2.33% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateGambia: 4.01 births per woman in 2023Senegal: 3.82 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationGambia: 65% in 2025Senegal: 55.8% in 2025
- Median ageGambia: 18.2 years in 2023Senegal: 19.1 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overGambia: 3% in 2023Senegal: 3.6% in 2023
- Net migration rateGambia: -1.1 per 1,000 people in 2023Senegal: -0.6 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingGambia: 0.57% of GDP in 2025Senegal: 1.56% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsGambia: $14.7M in 2025Senegal: $533M in 2025
- Military spending per personGambia: $5 in 2025Senegal: $30 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingGambia: 2.2% of government spending in 2025Senegal: 5.2% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelGambia: 4,000 people in 2020Senegal: 19,000 people in 2020
- National powerGambia: 0.02% of world capability in 2022Senegal: 0.1% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersGambia: 0.58% of the labour force in 2020Senegal: 0.37% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsGambia: 1 million TIV in 2025Senegal: 79 million TIV in 2024
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