Data study
The best African countries to live in
Where in Africa do people live the longest, get the most schooling and earn the most once local prices are taken into account? We plotted all 54 countries using the United Nations’ latest human development data.
The short answer
Seychelles and Mauritius are the best African countries to live in on the UN’s Human Development Index, with scores of 0.848 and 0.806 out of 1. Both island nations lead on health and schooling too, and both have incomes above $25,000 per person once prices are adjusted. On the mainland, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa follow.
North Africa does well across the board: all five North African countries outside Sudan sit in the top group. Several countries punch above their income: Comoros, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia have above-median health and schooling with below-median incomes. At the other end, Mali has the lowest health and education score in the data.
The four groups
Best of both (20)
Higher incomes, longer lives, more schooling
- Seychelles
- Mauritius
- Algeria
- Tunisia
- Egypt
- South Africa
- Morocco
- Botswana
- and 12 more in the table
Good living on less (7)
Strong health and schooling, lower incomes
Money, but gaps (7)
Higher incomes, weaker health and schooling
Hardest going (20)
Lower incomes, weaker health and schooling
- Mali
- Somalia
- Chad
- Niger
- Central African Republic
- South Sudan
- Burkina Faso
- Guinea
- and 12 more in the table
All 54 countries
Sorted by the Human Development Index. Click a column to sort.
| Country | Region | HDI | World rank | Health and education | Life expectancy | Years of schooling | Income per person | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seychelles | East & islands | 0.848 | 54 | 84.3 | 72.9 | 11.2 | $29,195 | Best of both |
| Mauritius | East & islands | 0.806 | 73 | 78.6 | 74.9 | 10.1 | $27,280 | Best of both |
| Algeria | North | 0.763 | 96 | 76.6 | 76.3 | 7.4 | $15,114 | Best of both |
| Egypt | North | 0.754 | 100 | 74.7 | 71.6 | 10.1 | $16,218 | Best of both |
| Tunisia | North | 0.746 | 105 | 75.8 | 76.5 | 7.6 | $12,011 | Best of both |
| South Africa | Southern | 0.741 | 106 | 73.9 | 66.1 | 11.6 | $13,694 | Best of both |
| Gabon | Central | 0.733 | 108 | 70.6 | 68.3 | 9.7 | $18,854 | Best of both |
| Botswana | Southern | 0.731 | 111 | 71.0 | 69.2 | 10.5 | $16,984 | Best of both |
| Libya | North | 0.721 | 115 | 68.5 | 69.3 | 7.8 | $19,831 | Best of both |
| Morocco | North | 0.710 | 120 | 72.9 | 75.3 | 6.2 | $8,653 | Best of both |
| Eswatini | Southern | 0.695 | 126 | 69.6 | 64.1 | 8.7 | $9,919 | Best of both |
| Equatorial Guinea | Central | 0.674 | 133 | 64.7 | 63.7 | 8.3 | $12,762 | Best of both |
| Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) | West | 0.668 | 135 | 66.9 | 76.1 | 6.1 | $8,165 | Best of both |
| Namibia | Southern | 0.665 | 136 | 64.5 | 67.4 | 7.3 | $10,917 | Best of both |
| Republic of the Congo | Central | 0.649 | 138 | 66.6 | 65.8 | 8.3 | $5,903 | Best of both |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Central | 0.637 | 141 | 65.3 | 69.7 | 6 | $5,583 | Best of both |
| Ghana | West | 0.628 | 143 | 62.3 | 65.5 | 7.1 | $6,846 | Best of both |
| Kenya | East & islands | 0.628 | 143 | 63.8 | 63.6 | 8.6 | $5,608 | Best of both |
| Angola | Southern | 0.616 | 148 | 60.7 | 64.6 | 6 | $6,631 | Best of both |
| Comoros | East & islands | 0.603 | 152 | 64.0 | 66.8 | 6 | $3,481 | Good living on less |
| Zimbabwe | Southern | 0.598 | 153 | 63.1 | 62.8 | 8.9 | $3,511 | Good living on less |
| Zambia | Southern | 0.595 | 154 | 62.8 | 66.3 | 7.4 | $3,447 | Good living on less |
| Cameroon | Central | 0.588 | 155 | 59.1 | 63.7 | 6.6 | $4,746 | Best of both |
| Côte d’Ivoire | West | 0.582 | 157 | 55.6 | 61.9 | 4.9 | $6,735 | Money, but gaps |
| Uganda | East & islands | 0.582 | 157 | 62.8 | 68.3 | 6.3 | $2,736 | Good living on less |
| Rwanda | East & islands | 0.578 | 159 | 61.4 | 67.8 | 4.9 | $2,971 | Good living on less |
| Togo | West | 0.571 | 161 | 60.6 | 62.7 | 5.9 | $2,856 | Good living on less |
| Mauritania | West | 0.563 | 163 | 53.4 | 68.5 | 4.9 | $6,267 | Money, but gaps |
| Nigeria | West | 0.560 | 164 | 53.8 | 54.5 | 7.6 | $5,569 | Money, but gaps |
| Tanzania | East & islands | 0.555 | 165 | 56.4 | 67 | 6.1 | $3,515 | Money, but gaps |
| Lesotho | Southern | 0.550 | 167 | 56.9 | 57.4 | 7.7 | $3,029 | Hardest going |
| Senegal | West | 0.530 | 169 | 51.3 | 68.7 | 2.9 | $4,202 | Money, but gaps |
| The Gambia | West | 0.524 | 170 | 53.5 | 65.9 | 4.7 | $2,812 | Hardest going |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Central | 0.522 | 171 | 59.5 | 61.9 | 7.4 | $1,431 | Good living on less |
| Malawi | Southern | 0.517 | 172 | 57.2 | 67.4 | 5.2 | $1,634 | Hardest going |
| Benin | West | 0.515 | 173 | 49.9 | 60.8 | 3.2 | $3,806 | Money, but gaps |
| Guinea-Bissau | West | 0.514 | 174 | 53.2 | 64.1 | 3.7 | $2,403 | Hardest going |
| Djibouti | East & islands | 0.513 | 175 | 46.4 | 66 | 4 | $6,368 | Money, but gaps |
| Sudan | North | 0.511 | 176 | 51.5 | 66.3 | 4 | $2,810 | Hardest going |
| Liberia | West | 0.510 | 177 | 56.7 | 62.2 | 6.2 | $1,538 | Hardest going |
| Eritrea | East & islands | 0.503 | 178 | 52.9 | 68.6 | 5.1 | $2,029 | Hardest going |
| Guinea | West | 0.500 | 179 | 48.3 | 60.7 | 2.5 | $3,494 | Hardest going |
| Ethiopia | East & islands | 0.497 | 180 | 49.5 | 67.3 | 2.4 | $2,796 | Hardest going |
| Mozambique | Southern | 0.493 | 182 | 55.2 | 63.6 | 4.6 | $1,356 | Hardest going |
| Madagascar | East & islands | 0.487 | 183 | 52.1 | 63.6 | 4.6 | $1,656 | Hardest going |
| Sierra Leone | West | 0.467 | 185 | 48.7 | 61.8 | 3.5 | $1,714 | Hardest going |
| Burkina Faso | West | 0.459 | 186 | 44.8 | 61.1 | 2.3 | $2,391 | Hardest going |
| Burundi | East & islands | 0.439 | 187 | 51.1 | 63.7 | 3.5 | $859 | Hardest going |
| Mali | West | 0.419 | 188 | 39.4 | 60.4 | 1.6 | $2,342 | Hardest going |
| Niger | West | 0.419 | 188 | 42.0 | 61.2 | 1.4 | $1,590 | Hardest going |
| Chad | Central | 0.416 | 190 | 40.9 | 55.1 | 2.3 | $1,748 | Hardest going |
| Central African Republic | Central | 0.414 | 191 | 44.2 | 57.4 | 4 | $1,100 | Hardest going |
| Somalia | East & islands | 0.404 | 192 | 40.2 | 58.8 | 1.9 | $1,475 | Hardest going |
| South Sudan | East & islands | 0.388 | 193 | 44.8 | 57.6 | 5.7 | $688 | Hardest going |
How we built this
Everything comes from one official source: the UNDP Human Development Report 2025, Statistical Annex Table 1, which covers 2023.
- Income per person: gross national income per person in 2021 PPP dollars. PPP adjusts for what money buys in each country, so incomes can be compared fairly across borders. The chart uses a log scale.
- Health and education score: our calculation using the UN’s own Human Development Index formula with the income part removed. It combines life expectancy at birth with expected and average years of schooling, scaled 0 to 100. We checked that adding the income part back reproduces the published HDI for every country.
- HDI and world rank: as published by UNDP (rank out of 193 countries and territories).
- The dashed lines mark the median country. Regions follow the groups we use across this site, with the Indian Ocean islands counted in East Africa.
These are national averages. They say nothing about safety advice, visas or what life is like in one city, so read each country guide and check current travel advice before you plan a move.
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2025, Statistical Annex Table 1: Human Development Index and its components. Last checked Oct 14, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best country to live in Africa?
On the UN’s Human Development Index, Seychelles ranks first in Africa (0.848), followed by Mauritius (0.806) and Algeria (0.763).
Which mainland African country has the highest quality of life?
Algeria has the highest Human Development Index on the African mainland (0.763), just ahead of Egypt and Tunisia.
Where do people live longest in Africa?
Tunisia (76.5 years), Algeria (76.3) and Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) (76.1) have the highest life expectancy at birth.
Next: all 54 country guides and the interactive map.