# Burkina Faso and Mali compared Burkina Faso and Mali side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 1 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/bfa-vs-mli 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 - Burkina Faso: c. 1050 — Oubri founds the Ouagadougou dynasty of the Mossi - Mali: c. 1235 — Sundiata Keita founds the Mali Empire on the upper Niger ## Economy | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $23 B | 2024 | $27 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $982 | 2024 | $1,095 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 4.8% | 2024 | 5.0% | 2024 | | Inflation | 4.2% | 2024 | 3.2% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 60.5% | 2024 | 49.9% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 24 m | 2024 | 24 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 61.3 yrs | 2024 | 60.7 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 28.3% | 2024 | 31.6% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 4.1 | 2024 | 5.5 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 40.0 | 2024 | 35.5 | 2024 | | Political stability | 33.3 | 2024 | 23.3 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 34.3 | 2024 | 26.3 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 46.6 | 2024 | 42.8 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 41.8 | 2024 | 38.1 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 42.7 | 2024 | 28.0 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 7.8% | 2023 | 3.8% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.15 | 2022 | 0.19 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 74.9 | 2024 | 73.0 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 88.0% | 2024 | 72.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 41.6% | 2023 | 35.6% | 2024 | | Education spending | 5.3% | 2023 | 4.2% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 77.2% | 2024 | 72.8% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 30.0% | 2024 | 38.9% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 10.0% | 2024 | 5.1% | 2015 | ## Technology | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.1% | 2024 | 0.1% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 47 | 2010 | 26 | 2023 | | Internet users | 28.3% | 2024 | 36.8% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 117 | 2024 | 112 | 2022 | | High-tech exports | 1.6% | 2024 | 5.4% | 2023 | ## Geography | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 273,600 km² | 2023 | 1,220,190 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 22.2% | 2023 | 10.9% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 53.4% | 2023 | 35.5% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.3 | 2024 | 0.3 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 71.4% | 2022 | 71.1% | 2022 | ## Resources | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 20.1% | 2021 | 18.4% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 15.5% | 2021 | 16.2% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 4.7% | 2021 | 2.2% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 21.7% | 2023 | 54.5% | 2023 | | Lithium (mined) | — | — | 9,400 t | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | Burkina Faso | Observed | Mali | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 4.7% | 2024 | 4.2% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $1.0 B | 2024 | $929 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 11,000 | 2020 | 41,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BFA.md and https://terralore.co/country/MLI.md. ## Entangled histories (1 event) 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. - December 1985: **Agacher Strip war with Mali** — A brief border conflict, the 'Christmas War', is fought with Mali over the mineral-rich Agacher Strip before regional mediation ends it. (from the Burkina Faso chronicle; sources: Thomas Sankara) ## 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 - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BFA/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/MLI/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Burkina Faso and Mali compared", terralore.co/compare/bfa-vs-mli, retrieved .