EICV7 - Main Indicators Report 2023/24

The EICV7 survey revealed that 27.4% of the population was living in poverty in 2023/24. Modelling shows that if the same methodology had been applied in 2016/17, the poverty rate at that time would have been 39.8%. 

This represents a reduction in poverty of just over twelve percentage points over seven years. This is a significant drop in poverty, but it is also clear that much remains to be done in order to eliminate poverty.

Health

Health insurance coverage expanded to 85.3%, a 11-percentage point increase from EICV5. Northern Province achieved the highest coverage, at 92%, while the insurance coverage rates in other provinces range from 83% to 85%. 

TABLE: Percentage (%) of population with health insurance, by type of insurance, according to area of residence, province, consumption quintile and sex

Community health insurance remains common and covers 93% of those with health insurance. The proportion of individuals who reported a health issue in the four weeks preceding the survey stood at 27%, among which 71% had a medical consultation, up from 57% reported in EICV5.

Education

The percentage of the population aged six years or older who have ever attended school is measured at 92%, a five-percentage point increase since EICV5 (when it stood at 87%). The same trend is observed across all provinces as well as in rural areas, and for both men and women. 

Net attendance rates (NARs) focus on the official school age ranges for primary (6–11 years) and secondary school (12–17 years) respectively and are defined as the percentage of children in the age group attending school in a particular reference school year. 

Since 2000, Rwanda’s GDP has risen five-fold, and GDP per capita has increased from $1,016 in 2000 (in purchasing power parity terms in 2021 prices) to $3,060 in 2023. This has been reflected in a rising standard of living, and improvements in a wide array of social indicators. 

The Rwanda Vision 2050 aims to bring the country to upper-middle-income status by 2035, and to eliminate poverty altogether by 2050.

Nationally, 8.9% of the population aged 10 and over have no formal education, and most of these are over 40 years old. The majority of the population, 62.9%, has only attended primary school, while 23.9% have attended secondary school, and 4.3% have had some university education.

The net attendance ratio (NAR) for primary school children has increased to 92%, up from 88% in EICV5. The NAR for primary school is slightly higher among girls (93%) than among boys (91.7%). The NAR for secondary school stood at 33.4%, with 38% for females and 29% for males. 

The literacy rate is defined as the number of people 15 years or older who can read and write a simple note. Overall, the literacy rate has improved (from 73% in EICV5 to 76% in EICV7). While the literacy rate for men is 78.4%, the rate for women is 74%.

Regarding the highest level of education attended, 9% of the population aged 10 and older have no formal education, 63% attended primary school, 24% have attended secondary level of education, while 4.3% have attended university.

Housing characteristics

The EICV7 results show an increase in the share of households living in an umudugudu2 (68% in EICV7, compared to 59% in EICV5), in particular among the lower quintiles of the consumption distribution. The use of corrugated iron roofing has become more common across the country, with 76% of households using this type of roofing on a national level in EICV7 compared to 67% in EICV5. 

This type of roofing is more common in the City of Kigali (98.6%) and Eastern province (98.9%) but lowest in Southern province (41.5%). Households living in rented dwellings have increased in EICV7 compared to EICV5 (21% vs 17%). 

There has been an increase in dwellings with concrete as the main flooring material (35% versus 26%), and mud bricks with cement as the main wall material (42% versus 30%), while the proportion of dwellings tree trunks and mud has decreased to 16% from 23%.

Access to services, infrastructure and amenities

Nationally, 75% of households rely on firewood as their primary cooking fuel, followed by 18.8% using charcoal, and 5.4% using gas. Urban households show significant differences, with 32% using firewood compared to 93% in rural areas. Charcoal is the dominant fuel in urban areas, used by 51% of households, while only 6% of rural households rely on it. Gas usage is higher in urban areas (17%) than in rural areas (1%), reflecting disparities in access to and affordability of modern fuels.

Nationally, 50% of households use electricity from distributors as their main source of lighting. torch/phone flash at 25.0% ranks second, followed by Solar power at 22%. Other sources, such as firewood and candles, contribute minimally to household lighting needs. 

The percentage of households using improved drinking water sources across provinces from EICV5 to EICV7. The data reflects a nationwide increase in access, rising from 87.4% in EICV5 to 89.7% in EICV7. Kigali City recorded the highest percentage of households with improved water access, increasing from 96% in EICV5to 98%in EICV7, representing a two-percentage-point rise. In contrast, Western Province, which ranks lowest, reported a decrease from 87% in EICV5 to 85% in EICV7.

TABLE: Percentage (%) of households by distance to improved drinking water source

Nationally, 89.7% of households rely on improved drinking water sources. Among these, public taps/standpipes are the most commonly used source, accounting for 33.4%, followed closely by protected wells at 31.2%. On the other hand, 10.3% of households use unimproved sources, with unprotected springs being the most common among them at 6.4%. 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Between 2017 and 2024, real GDP per capita rose by 37%, and the consumption component of GDP rose by 27% per person. Over the same period, the proportion of those aged 16 and above who were employed rose from 44% to 54%. 

Economic activity

Overall, Rwanda exhibits a workforce-to-population ratio of 80%, with men participating at a slightly higher rate (83%) compared to women (78%). Rural areas demonstrate a higher participation rate of 83%, mainly due to high subsistence farming participation, compared to urban areas, where it stands at 72%. 

EICV7 data also showed that a majority of workers engage in agriculture (62%), followed by services (27%) and industry (11%). The proportion of workers who are poor, stood at 25% at the national level. It is lower in urban areas (14.5%) than in rural (29%) and lower in Kigali city (7.4%) than in other provinces.

Trends in poverty

The national poverty rate declined significantly from an estimated 39.8% in 2017 to 27.4% in 2024. This represents a reduction of 12.4 percentage points suggesting substantial progress in poverty alleviation over the seven-year period. 

In count terms, approximately 1.5 million Rwandans came out poverty in the last 7 years between 2017 and 2024, averaging 214,000 individuals emerging from poverty each year.