Country Comments

Eritrea’s citizens live very modestly with 80% working in the agricultural sector. Eritrea sees approximately 40,000 of its citizens emigrate each year. However with a high fertility rate of over 4 children per mother, the country’s population growth rate, although not verified by The World Bank is substantial adding over 40,000 more people every year.

The primary threat to wildlife in Eritrea is habitat loss, where both traditional practices, such as unsustainable grazing, cultivation and forestry, and emerging drivers such as mining. A century ago, 30% of Eritrea was covered by forest, but less than 1% of this remained in 1995.

Girls’ education in Eritrea has steadily increased. Unfortunately, the numbers are still low: UNICEF reports only 43 percent of girls are enrolled in primary school education, while 50 percent of boys are enrolled. Enrollment in secondary school is much lower with about 25 percent of girls enrolled and 32 percent of boys. Fortunately, the literacy rates in Eritrea are higher with women at 87.7 percent compared to men at 92.6 percent. The number of women graduating from universities is already growing rapidly. A decade ago, only 25 percent of university graduates were women. Today that number ranges between 40 to 50 percent.