# Burundi and Rwanda compared Burundi and Rwanda side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 4 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bdi-vs-rwa Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Burundi: c. 1680 — Ntare I founds the Kingdom of Burundi - Rwanda: c. 1650 — The Kingdom of Rwanda takes shape under the Nyiginya ## Economy | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $3.1 B | 2024 | $14 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $219 | 2024 | $1,000 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 4.1% | 2024 | 8.9% | 2024 | | Inflation | 20.2% | 2024 | 1.8% | 2024 | | Trade openness | — | — | 70.0% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 14 m | 2024 | 14 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 63.8 yrs | 2024 | 68.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 24.8% | 2024 | 29.9% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 4.8 | 2024 | 3.6 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 30.7 | 2024 | 46.5 | 2024 | | Political stability | 42.4 | 2024 | 65.1 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 31.8 | 2024 | 58.1 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 42.0 | 2024 | 59.1 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 34.5 | 2024 | 58.7 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 18.3 | 2024 | 60.5 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 9.1% | 2023 | 5.1% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.08 | 2022 | 0.09 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 47.1 | 2024 | 37.7 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 86.0% | 2024 | 97.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 71.3% | 2020 | 78.8% | 2022 | | Education spending | 4.5% | 2025 | 4.6% | 2024 | | Primary enrolment | 100.6% | 2025 | 149.6% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 23.1% | 2025 | 48.8% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 6.4% | 2025 | 9.4% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.2% | 2018 | 0.8% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 22 | 2018 | 133 | 2023 | | Internet users | 8.6% | 2024 | 31.7% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 63 | 2023 | 93 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 1.3% | 2023 | 4.8% | 2022 | ## Geography | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 25,680 km² | 2023 | 24,670 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 10.9% | 2023 | 11.3% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 83.9% | 2023 | 76.3% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.1 | 2024 | 0.2 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 83.0% | 2022 | 79.9% | 2022 | ## Resources | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 14.0% | 2021 | 4.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 14.0% | 2021 | 4.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 11.6% | 2023 | 63.9% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Burundi | Observed | Rwanda | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 3.8% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $172 M | 2024 | $176 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 31,000 | 2020 | 35,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BDI.md and https://terralore.co/country/RWA.md. ## Entangled histories (4 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1916: **Belgium occupies Rwanda** — Belgian forces take Rwanda from Germany during the First World War; from 1922 it is governed with Burundi as Ruanda-Urundi under a League of Nations mandate. (from the Rwanda chronicle; sources: History of Rwanda; Divided by Ethnicity) - 1 July 1962: **Independence from Belgium** — Rwanda becomes a sovereign republic with Grégoire Kayibanda as first president, ending Belgian rule of Ruanda-Urundi; Burundi gains independence the same day. (from the Rwanda chronicle; sources: History of Rwanda; Rise of Rwanda) - 1 July 1962: **Independence under the monarchy** — Burundi becomes independent from Belgium as a constitutional monarchy under Mwami Mwambutsa IV, separating from Rwanda and retaining its throne. (from the Burundi chronicle; sources: History of Burundi; Burundi: History; Mwambutsa IV of Burundi) - 6 April 1994: **Habyarimana's plane shot down** — A surface-to-air missile downs the plane carrying President Habyarimana and Burundi's president over Kigali, killing all aboard; extremists seize on it to unleash the genocide. (from the Rwanda chronicle; sources: Massacre of the Tutsi Minority; Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the United Nations; Juvénal Habyarimana) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BDI/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/RWA/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Burundi and Rwanda compared", terralore.co/compare/bdi-vs-rwa, retrieved .