Kiribati

Trott Bailey Family Abundance · Country Profile

Kiribati

Tracking baselineEvidence through 31 Dec 2025
TBF Rank #162 of 232 countries
KiribatiTrending down: previously #159, now #162.Recent recorded movements
  1. #159 → #1626 Oct 2026 · 18:46 GMT-0500
  2. #69 → #1596 Oct 2026 · 18:46 GMT-0500
  3. #159 → #696 Oct 2026 · 18:46 GMT-0500
TBF Abundance Score -66.2 Evidence before Abundance Gate +19.1 National Abundance Gate Money-gated · graded GDP Rank #186 Coverage 88% Categories scored14 / 16

Money Gate 20 · Overall Gate 0.7.0

Five basics stand between this country and zero

This older research pack has not yet received a direct five-part Money Gate audit. Its historical Reach/Friction evidence is compressed to a maximum transitional 4/20 so we do not invent free-access points that were never researched.

Money Gate score 2.2 / 20 Cash-Register Lock 88.9 / 100 Friction Economy Pressure 77.7 / 100 Money-gated ceiling -43.3
Food Pending Housing / Land Pending Healthcare Pending Transportation Pending Water / Energy Pending
9% weightHuman Time & Burden Return
+8.3

Whether productivity, infrastructure and institutions return usable lifetime to people and families.

TBFC target: Necessary contribution should not require people to sell most of their waking life merely to retain access to food, shelter, care and ordinary family life.

Access-gate research question: How much paid work or income-producing activity is required before an ordinary household can keep access to basic life, and what usable family time remains afterward?

Capacity+45.0
Reach+20.0
Friction-55.0
Return / Regeneration+25.0

Abundance Gap: +25.0

TBF reading

Low headline unemployment is offset by very high broader labour underutilization, informal work and NEET share. Current 2023–24 labour evidence supports modest capacity but substantial burden/friction.

Published indicators

Labour force participation rate52.40 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Unemployment rate3.10 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Composite labour underutilization42.60 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Informal employment59.90 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Youth not in employment, education or training37.70 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
8% weightHousing, Shelter & Housing Reach
+19.8

Whether adequate shelter physically exists and actually reaches people without excessive cost, exclusion or vacancy mismatch.

TBFC target: Adequate family shelter should remain reachable without lifetime dependence on rent, mortgage debt or ability to pay.

Access-gate research question: What share of ordinary shelter access depends on rent, mortgage debt, purchase price or other recurring payment, and what dependable non-market routes exist at national scale?

Capacity+50.0
Reach+45.0
Friction-40.0
Return / Durability+10.0

Abundance Gap: +5.0

TBF reading

High outright home ownership supports shelter reach, but severe South Tarawa density and current disaster-related housing damage reduce spatial and durability abundance.

Published indicators

Households owning dwelling free and clear83.60 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office · 2020

Source
South Tarawa population density3,942.00 people per sq km

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2020

Source
Households affected by natural disaster in prior 12 months25.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Affected households reporting home damage60.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
9% weightFood, Nourishment & Free Food Abundance
+21.5

Physical food and nutrient capacity, nourishment reach, waste/loss, public edible landscapes and free food access.

TBFC target: Nutritious food should exist in multiplying abundance and remain reachable even when a household has no money to spend.

Access-gate research question: Can people obtain adequate nutritious food when they cannot pay, and are free/public/productive-food routes large enough to be ordinary rather than exceptional?

Capacity+65.0
Reach+35.0
Friction / Waste-55.0
Return / Multiplication+45.0

Abundance Gap: +30.0

TBF reading

Near-universal participation in food-producing activity and meaningful home-produced consumption provide real food capacity; 44% moderate/severe food insecurity and heavy food spending show that reach remains constrained.

Published indicators

Moderate or severe food insecurity44.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Households reporting severe food insecurity5.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
At-home food consumption value that is home-grown or reared20.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Household spending going to food50.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Households participating in agriculture/fishing/copra or related primary activityAlmost all households participate in some agricultural or primary food-producing activity.

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
6% weightWater & Sanitation Abundance
+6.8

Safe water, sanitation, reliability, capture, reuse, storage and living-landscape water capacity.

TBFC target: Safe water and sanitation should be dependable life infrastructure, not conditional on household purchasing power.

Access-gate research question: Can households retain safe water and sanitation when income falls, and which payment, disconnection or infrastructure barriers interrupt access?

Capacity+35.0
Reach+30.0
Friction / Loss-65.0
Return / Regeneration+25.0

Abundance Gap: +5.0

TBF reading

Current HIES evidence shows drinking-water access ahead of sanitation, but safe sanitation remains low and island water vulnerability creates major friction.

Published indicators

Population using improved drinking water88.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Population using safely managed sanitation45.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Population using basic drinking-water services75.00 percent

UNICEF Pacific · 2023

Source
Population using basic sanitation services44.00 percent

UNICEF Pacific · 2023

Source
5% weightEnergy & Household Capability
+40.5

Whether usable, reliable energy reaches households and removes burdens across water, food, health, cooling, cooking and movement.

TBFC target: Essential household energy should support cooking, cooling, water, food preservation and care without money becoming the switch that turns basic capability on or off.

Access-gate research question: Can households retain essential energy for cooking, cooling, water and food preservation when they cannot pay, and how often does price or disconnection reduce capability?

Capacity+75.0
Reach+70.0
Friction-35.0
Return / Burden Removed+40.0

Abundance Gap: +5.0

TBF reading

Electricity reach is near universal, with growing renewable capacity, though generation mix and dispersed-island reliability keep friction material.

Published indicators

Access to electricity97.70 percent

World Bank · 2024

Source
Population/households with electricity in HIES SDG reporting91.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Renewables excluding hydropower share of electricity16.40 percent

World Bank / Our World in Data · 2021

Source
Planned South Tarawa solar generation capacity7.50 MW

Asian Development Bank · 2023

Source
7% weightHealth & Care Reach
+19.5

Whether prevention, primary care, medicine, maternity care, dentistry and specialist capability reach people when needed.

TBFC target: Prevention, maternity, dentistry, medicine and necessary treatment should be reachable because care is needed, not because payment can be produced.

Access-gate research question: Can necessary care be obtained because it is needed, or do price, insurance, employment, debt or other financial tests materially delay or prevent access?

Capacity+45.0
Reach+45.0
Friction-45.0
Return / Prevention+25.0

Abundance Gap: 0.0

TBF reading

Financial protection and care-seeking indicators are meaningful positives, while high child mortality and treatment gaps keep health capability and reach far below abundance.

Published indicators

Under-five mortality rate53.10 deaths per 1,000 live births

UNICEF · 2024

Source
Infant mortality rate39.00 deaths per 1,000 live births

UNICEF · 2024

Source
Care-seeking for acute respiratory infection87.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Children with diarrhoea receiving ORS61.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Population/households with catastrophic health spending above 10%0.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
6% weightEducation & Human Capability
+25.3

Foundational learning plus practical, technical and enduring civilization capability retained by people.

TBFC target: Foundational learning and useful capability should be reachable as part of civilization life rather than purchased according to family income.

Access-gate research question: Which essential learning and capability routes are genuinely reachable regardless of family income, and where do fees, debt or paid enrichment create decisive access gaps?

Capacity+55.0
Reach+60.0
Friction-50.0
Return / Capability+20.0

Abundance Gap: -5.0

TBF reading

Participation in basic education is high, but upper-secondary continuation and learning outcomes show substantial capability loss beyond enrollment.

Published indicators

Children age 6–13 in formal/non-formal education98.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Children age 36–59 months attending early childhood education72.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Primary completion rate93.00 percent

UNICEF / UNESCO · 2020

Source
Upper secondary attendance or higher54.70 percent

UNICEF Pacific · 2022

Source
Learning poverty estimate range49.00 percent

World Bank · 2022

Source
4% weightMobility & Reachability
-1.3

Local, regional and national movement that connects people to family, services, work, learning and public life without consuming excessive time.

TBFC target: Ordinary local and regional movement should be available for family, care, learning and civic life without travel becoming a paywall.

Access-gate research question: Can ordinary people reach family, care, learning and public life without high recurring fares, vehicle costs, debt or fuel dependence?

Capacity+35.0
Reach+15.0
Friction-70.0
Return / Time+15.0

Abundance Gap: +20.0

TBF reading

Road-safety burden is moderate in rate terms, but 33-island dispersion over a vast ocean creates severe inter-island reach friction; current investments are credited as return/capacity rather than completed access.

Published indicators

Reported road-traffic fatalities8.00 count

World Health Organization · 2021

Source
WHO estimated road-traffic death rate6.20 per 100,000

World Health Organization · 2021

Source
Paved road length43.00 km

World Health Organization · 2010

Source
National island dispersion33 coral islands spread across about 3.5 million km²

UNICEF Pacific · 2024

Source

Verified evidence

Kiritimati roads and airport investment

A 2025 World Bank grant supports road and airport upgrades on Kiritimati, an important response to geographic isolation.

World Bank
Outer-island transport access investment

ADB investment targets safer and more resilient access for outer-island communities including Abaiang, Nonouti, Beru and Tabiteuea South.

Asian Development Bank
8% weightFamily Formation, Continuity & Child Stability
+5.5

Conditions that let people form stable families, raise children, share parental time and continue family life without punishing material barriers.

TBFC target: People should be able to form, continue and multiply family life. Trott Bailey Family Civilization uses 5.0 children per woman as the fertility target; 2.1 is the replacement floor, not the aspiration, while housing, care, food and time should not be withheld behind financial thresholds.

Access-gate research question: How strongly do housing, childcare, health, food and work-income requirements delay or destabilize family formation and continuity, and is total fertility moving above replacement toward the 5.0-children-per-woman civilization target?

Capacity+40.0
Reach+35.0
Friction-70.0
Return / Continuity+5.0

Abundance Gap: +5.0

TBF reading

Birth registration and some family-service reach are strong, while child marriage, violent discipline and gender-violence attitudes indicate serious child/family stability friction.

Published indicators

Birth registration coverage92.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Women age 20–24 married before age 1818.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Children 1–14 experiencing physical punishment and/or psychological aggression92.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
Women 15–49 saying wife beating is justified for at least one reason70.00 percent

UNICEF · 2019

Source
5% weightLand Access & Spatial Freedom
+24.0

Whether land and settlement choice reach ordinary people rather than opportunity being functionally trapped inside expensive commercial centres.

TBFC target: Suitable productive land and settlement opportunity should not be functionally reserved for those able to outbid everyone else.

Access-gate research question: Can ordinary families gain secure use of suitable productive ground without first accumulating enough money to purchase, finance or outbid others?

Capacity+60.0
Reach+50.0
Friction / Concentration-55.0
Return / Productive Ground+35.0

Abundance Gap: +10.0

TBF reading

Kiribati has substantial land in less-populated islands, especially Kiritimati, but population concentration on very dense South Tarawa makes practical spatial freedom uneven.

Published indicators

Kiritimati land area388.00 sq km

World Bank · 2024

Source
Population living in South Tarawa53.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / World Bank · 2020

Source
Population living on Kiritimati6.00 percent

World Bank · 2020

Source
Inhabited/national island geography33.00 count islands

UNICEF Pacific · 2024

Source
6% weightPeace of Mind, Happiness, Beauty & Delight
+34.5

Peace of mind, social support, everyday safety, public beauty, recreation, nature, culture and delight reachable without constant payment.

TBFC target: Beauty, nature, recreation, rest and public delight should belong to ordinary life rather than appearing mainly after payment.

Access-gate research question: How much everyday rest, nature, recreation, culture and public beauty is freely reachable, rather than principally accessed through paid venues, travel or private property?

Capacity+80.0
Reach+55.0
Friction-55.0
Return / Delight+60.0

Abundance Gap: +25.0

TBF reading

Kiribati has extraordinary ocean/nature beauty and strong public cultural landscape capacity; disaster displacement and very high youth suicide evidence materially reduce lived peace and delight.

Published indicators

Suicide rate age 15–2931.10 per 100,000

World Health Organization · 2021

Source
Households affected by natural disasters in prior year25.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
People temporarily relocated by natural disasters4,000.00 people

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
Phoenix Islands Protected Area408,250.00 sq km

UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2026

Source
6% weightLiving Ground, Biodiversity & Resilience
+28.8

Whether soil, forests, wetlands, habitat, pollinators, species and water-holding landscapes are strengthening rather than being consumed.

TBFC target: Regenerating soil, water, habitat and food-bearing landscapes should be maintained as shared life-supporting capacity rather than only where a transaction makes them profitable.

Access-gate research question: Are regenerative land, water and habitat functions maintained as life-supporting infrastructure even when no direct commercial return is available?

Capacity+75.0
Reach / Ecological Function+55.0
Friction / Loss-70.0
Return / Regeneration+55.0

Abundance Gap: +20.0

TBF reading

PIPA and protected-area coverage provide major ecological capacity and global conservation return; very low forest area, climate exposure and agricultural disaster losses create strong resilience friction.

Published indicators

Marine area protected11.90 percent

SPREP PIPAP / UNEP-WCMC · 2025

Source
Terrestrial area protected22.90 percent

SPREP PIPAP / UNEP-WCMC · 2025

Source
Forest area1.50 percent land area

World Bank · 2023

Source
Known fauna species in PIPA800.00 species

UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2026

Source
Disaster-affected households reporting agricultural losses26.00 percent

Kiribati National Statistics Office / Pacific Community · 2024

Source
5% weightJustice, Safety & Institutional Friction
+22.0

Physical safety, usable justice, legal identity, reliable public administration and low needless institutional burden.

TBFC target: Usable justice, legal identity, safety and ordinary administration should remain accessible regardless of wealth.

Access-gate research question: Do fees, legal costs, bail, fines, documentation costs or ability to hire expertise materially change access to justice, safety or public administration?

Capacity+55.0
Reach+50.0
Friction-55.0
Return / Reliability+30.0

Abundance Gap: +5.0

TBF reading

External governance measures show generally strong democratic and rule-of-law conditions, while judicial-independence pressure and stale prison evidence prevent a stronger safety/friction judgment.

Published indicators

Freedom in the World score89.00 score /100

Freedom House · 2026

Source
MCC rule-of-law percentile91.00 percentile

Millennium Challenge Corporation · 2024

Source
MCC control-of-corruption percentile84.00 percentile

Millennium Challenge Corporation · 2024

Source
Prison population129.00 people

World Prison Brief · 2016

Source

Verified evidence

Judicial independence remains a live friction

Freedom House notes recent pressure on judicial independence despite Kiribati remaining a multiparty democracy with generally upheld civil liberties.

Freedom House
4% weightDurability, Repair & Material Return
+19.8

Whether useful materials, infrastructure and goods are maintained, repairable, recovered and cycled instead of repeatedly becoming waste.

TBFC target: Repair, maintenance and useful material circulation should protect capability instead of forcing repeated repurchase as the default route to continued use.

Access-gate research question: Do repair and maintenance remain practically accessible, or do pricing, proprietary restrictions and replacement incentives turn continued use into repeated purchasing?

Capacity+50.0
Reach+40.0
Friction / Waste-60.0
Return / Circularity+55.0

Abundance Gap: +10.0

TBF reading

Kiribati has active waste auditing, toxic-material removal and regional recycling routes, but plastic accumulation and island disposal constraints remain severe material-return friction.

Published indicators

Plastic share of waste stream13.00 percent

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme · 2019

Source
Plastic waste accumulating9.70 tonnes/day

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme · 2019

Source
Used lead-acid battery waste removed/recycled through regional system7,000.00 tonnes

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme · 2024

Source
Asbestos-containing material removed from Banaba3,645.00 square metres

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme · 2018

Source
National waste audit publication2,025.00 year

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme · 2025

Source

Verified evidence

Current national waste audit exists

SPREP published a 2025 Kiribati National Waste Audit Analysis Report to support policy, infrastructure and coordination.

SPREP

Trott Bailey Family Civilization Target

The end state: life beyond monetary gatekeeping

Trott Bailey Family Civilization treats money as an exchange tool rather than a prerequisite for access to life. The long-run abundance target is that food, water, shelter, care, education, mobility, land access and ordinary public life remain reachable even when a person cannot pay.

This target is an authored civilization standard. The diagnostic evidence score can now draw from all 16 weighted categories. The five-part Money Gate remains a separate domestic threshold asking whether food, housing/land, healthcare, transportation and water/energy are genuinely reachable without payment before any civilization can cross zero.

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