Life in South Sudan

Daily life in South Sudan today, one of the world's poorest countries, in facts, images and video. In Sudan life is not measured by the number of world possessions you own which is just as well for the newly established country's 12.2 million (2025) population. Despite its oil fields that account for 95% of its income, South Sudan is a poor country and life in South Sudan is harsh with an estimated 92% of its people living in poverty with more than one third lacking secure access to food.

Almost 83% of the population reside in rural areas, reliant on subsistence farming (growing cassava, groundnuts, sweet potato, sorghum, sesame, maize, rice, finger millet, cowpea and beans), however just 4% of the land in South Sudan away from the river is arable and few can expect to live beyond 59.24 years of age.

This, and others factors, contribute to South Sudan being ranked in 193rd place out of 193 countries and territories in 2025 in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country. One of the reasons for this low life expectancy in South Sudan is that just 55% of the people have access to safe drinking water and, due to increased costs of production, water providers in the capital of Juba are producing less and charging more pushing the cost of safe, bottled water out of the reach of many. Rural families are therefore reliant on small boreholes that are often many miles away from where they live and are infected leading to a high prevalence of children in particular suffering from water related diseases such as bacterial and protozoa diarrhoea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever.

Life in South Sudan

Volunteer Work

Check out all the latest fee paying and free volunteer work placements with local projects in South Sudan.
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South Sudan Quiz

Take our online South Sudan trivia quiz and see how much you know about South Sudan with interesting facts.
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Sponsor a Child

Another way to volunteer in Sudan Profile is to sponsor a child with these child sponsor programs.
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South Sudan

Facts, videos, articles and information about the conflicted nation of South Sudan.
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Life for Children in South Sudan

<h3>Life in South Sudan Video</h3>

The 2025 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) for South Sudan indicates that 9.3 million people, representing 70% of the population, require humanitarian assistance due to ongoing conflict, inter-communal violence, economic instability, the war in Sudan, and climate-related shocks. All of this results in current infant mortality rate for South Sudan in 2024 of 60.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. South Sudan faces significant challenges in primary school attendance, with a large proportion of school-aged children out of school. Approximately 70% of children are not attending primary school, representing the highest percentage globally. This equates to roughly 2.8 million children, many of whom are internally displaced due to conflict. Girls are disproportionately affected, facing greater barriers to education than boys. Recent data from the World Population Review shows that only 27% of South Sudanese people aged 15 or older are literate and, within this figure, 35% of men can read and write, but only 19.2% of women are able to do so. Appeals continue to reach out for qualified teachers from outside the country to return to help rebuild the educational infrastructure.

Life in South Sudan has been made all the more difficult due to the number of returning refugees and displaced persons placing increased pressure on an already weak infrastructure. Despite this, life in South Sudan does have prospects. It's a potentially rich country with natural resources including oil, gold, silver, iron ore and copper however, as one leading commenter noted, "Life in South Sudan is likely to be precarious for some years to come." The video (above) give a glimpse of daily life in South Sudan today.