Compare
South Africa vs Sweden
How South Africa and Sweden compare on 37 measures, from 1751 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Sweden was higher: 83.3 years against 66.1 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Sweden was higher: $55,010 against $5,713
- Population · In 2023, South Africa was higher: 63.2 million people against 10.6 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Sweden was higher: 2.47% of GDP against 0.74% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, South Africa was higher: 6.88 tonnes against 3.57 tonnes
Life expectancy →South AfricaSwedenUN projection (medium variant)95% prediction intervalWorld
Change since 1950, years · UN
Every measure
South AfricaSweden
| Measure | South Africa | Sweden | Over the years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | |||
| Life expectancyyears · 2023 | 66.1 | 83.3 | |
| Child mortalitydeaths before age 5 per 100 live births · 2024 | 3.5 | 0.2 | |
| Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births · 2023 | 27.9 | 1.9 | |
| Depression% of people · 2017 | 3.75 | 4.49 | |
| Suicide ratedeaths per 100,000 people · 2017 | 11.2 | 11.1 | |
| People | |||
| Populationpeople · 2023 | 63.2 million | 10.6 million | |
| Population growth% a year · 2023 | 1.32 | 0.56 | |
| Fertility ratebirths per woman · 2023 | 2.22 | 1.43 | |
| Urban population% of people · 2025 | 63.8 | 89.1 | |
| Median ageyears · 2023 | 28.2 | 39.9 | |
| People aged 65 and over% of people · 2023 | 6.5 | 20.5 | |
| Net migration rateper 1,000 people · 2023 | 3.6 | 5.2 | |
| Economy | |||
| GDP per personUS dollars at 2015 prices · 2025 | $5,713 | $55,010 | |
| GDP growth% a year · 2025 | 1.1 | 1.4 | |
| Inflation% a year · 2025 | 3.2 | 2.6 | |
| Government debt% of GDP · 2025 | 762024 | 34.6 | |
| Education | |||
| Learning-adjusted schoolingyears · 2020 | 5.6 | 11.6 | |
| Girls in primary school% of girls of primary-school age · 2017 | 86.7 | 98.12008 | |
| Politics | |||
| Electoral democracyindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.74 | 0.89 | |
| Human rightsindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.86 | 0.96 | |
| Conflict | |||
| Deaths in conflictsdeaths a year · 2022 | 0 | 0 | |
| Military | |||
| Military spending% of GDP · 2025 | 0.74 | 2.47 | |
| Military spending in US dollarsUS dollars at 2024 prices · 2025 | $3B | $15B | |
| Military spending per personUS dollars per person · 2025 | $49 | $1,549 | |
| Military share of state spending% of government spending · 2025 | 2.2 | 5 | |
| Armed forces personnelpeople · 2020 | 89,000 | 15,000 | |
| National power% of world capability · 2022 | 0.55 | 0.19 | |
| Armed forces, share of workers% of the labour force · 2020 | 0.4 | 0.27 | |
| Arms importsSIPRI trend-indicator values · 2025 | 30 million | 146 million | |
| Arms exportsSIPRI trend-indicator values · 2025 | 115 million | 235 million | |
| Climate | |||
| Temperature°C · 2025 | 18.3 | 5.3 | |
| Days above 35 °Cdays a year · 2014 | 13.2 | 0 | |
| Tropical nightsnights a year · 2014 | 27.1 | 0.1 | |
| Technology and environment | |||
| CO₂ per persontonnes per person · 2024 | 6.88 | 3.57 | |
| Internet users% of people · 2025 | 78.42024 | 95.8 | |
| Access to electricity% of people · 2024 | 90.2 | 100 | |
| Forest area% of land · 2024 | 18.8 | 68.6 | |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, IHME, World Bank, IMF, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time