Renson Mwakandana
According to the most recent statistics made public on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics, Rwandans are living at least nine years longer than the majority of East Africans. Statistics from the fifth Population and Housing Census 2022, Rwanda’s life expectancy has increased to 69.6 years from 51.2 years in 2002.
According to 2020 World Bank data, this places Rwanda ahead of its counterparts in East Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high-income). Tanzanians have the second-longest life expectancy in East Africa, behind Rwanda at 66 years, Kenya and Uganda at 63 years, Burundi at 61 years, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at 60 years.
The shortest life expectancy is 55 years in South Sudan. The World Bank estimated Rwanda’s life expectancy to be 67 in 2020.
At an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent, Rwanda’s population has increased from 10.5 million in 2012 to 13.2 million as of today. 51.5 percent of the population is female, compared to 48.5 percent of men.
The information was made public at the 18th National Dialogue of Rwanda, Umushyikirano, which began on Monday. Due to the Covid-19 limits on public meetings, the two-day forum was postponed until this year.
Participants in the gathering, which was presided over by President Paul Kagame, included members of the public, representatives of local government, the Cabinet, the Parliament, business executives, and representatives of the diplomatic and religious communities.
Since 2003, the yearly debate has given participants a forum to talk about the most important problems affecting the nation.
