South Africa’s coastline is 5.2 times as long as Kenya’s

Kenya: 536 km (2026 edition) · South Africa: 2,798 km (2026 edition)

Kenya’s highest peak towers 1,749 m above South Africa’s

Kenya: 5,199 m (2026 edition) · South Africa: 3,450 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 79% of South Africa, versus 50% of Kenya

Kenya: 50% (2024) · South Africa: 79.4% (2024)

South Africa has 13% more people than Kenya

Kenya: 57.5 million (2025) · South Africa: 64.7 million (2025)

Kenya is 86% more densely populated than South Africa

Kenya: 99 per km² (2025) · South Africa: 53 per km² (2025)

The typical person in South Africa is 8.7 years older than in Kenya

Kenya: 19.5 years (2023) · South Africa: 28.2 years (2023)

Women in Kenya have 1.0 more children on average than in South Africa

Kenya: 3.17 children per woman (2024) · South Africa: 2.21 children per woman (2024)

6.9% of people in South Africa are 65 or older, versus 3.0% in Kenya

Kenya: 3% (2025) · South Africa: 6.9% (2025)

Kenya hosts 13 times as many refugees per resident as South Africa

Kenya: 10.7 per 1,000 (2025) · South Africa: 0.9 per 1,000 (2025)

South Africa has produced 1.5 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Kenya 0.2

Kenya: 0.2 (2026) · South Africa: 1.5 (2026)

South Africa has 11 official languages, Kenya 2

Kenya: 2 (2026) · South Africa: 11 (2026)

South Africa’s economy is 3.1 times the size of Kenya’s

Kenya: $136 billion (2025) · South Africa: $427 billion (2025)

South Africa produces 2.3 times as much per person as Kenya

Kenya: Int$7,016 (2025) · South Africa: Int$15,906 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in South Africa than in Kenya (Gini 15.6 points higher)

Kenya: 38.5 (2022) · South Africa: 54.1 (2022)

46% of people in Kenya live on less than $3 a day, versus 17% in South Africa

Kenya: 45.5% (2022) · South Africa: 17.4% (2022)

Unemployment is 32% in South Africa, versus 5.4% in Kenya

Kenya: 5.4% (2025) · South Africa: 32.4% (2025)

Kenya and South Africa are practically level

Kenya: 1.1% (2025) · South Africa: 0.7% (2025)

South Africa’s central government collects 26% of GDP in tax, Kenya’s 14%

Kenya: 14.1% (2023) · South Africa: 25.9% (2024)

South Africa’s price level (US = 100) is 1.2× Kenya’s

Kenya: 34% (2025) · South Africa: 41% (2025)

South Africa spends 6.3 times as much on health per person as Kenya

Kenya: $85 (2023) · South Africa: $537 (2023)

A baby in Kenya is 41% more likely to die before turning one than in South Africa

Kenya: 34.2 per 1,000 (2024) · South Africa: 24.2 per 1,000 (2024)

South Africa has 2.7 times as many doctors per person as Kenya

Kenya: 0.3 per 1,000 (2023) · South Africa: 0.8 per 1,000 (2022)

Kenya: 1.3 per 1,000 (2019) · South Africa: no data

The suicide rate in Kenya is 18% higher than in South Africa

Kenya: 19.1 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 16.2 per 100k (2023)

31% of adults in South Africa are obese, versus 10% in Kenya

Kenya: 10.4% (2024) · South Africa: 31.3% (2024)

24% of adults in South Africa smoke, versus 9.6% in Kenya

Kenya: 9.6% (2024) · South Africa: 23.7% (2024)

People in South Africa rate their lives 0.33 points higher than in Kenya

Kenya: 4.67 (2025) · South Africa: 5.01 (2025)

Adults in South Africa drink 3.8 times as much alcohol as in Kenya

Kenya: 2.2 litres (2023) · South Africa: 8.6 litres (2023)

South Africa has 5.7 times as much meat per person as Kenya

Kenya: 10.2 kg (2023) · South Africa: 58.3 kg (2023)

South Africa has 548 kcal more food per person per day than Kenya

Kenya: 2,146 kcal (2023) · South Africa: 2,694 kcal (2023)

Workers in South Africa put in 147 more hours a year than in Kenya

Kenya: 2,035 hours (2023) · South Africa: 2,181 hours (2023)

Adults in South Africa went to school 3 years longer than in Kenya

Kenya: 8.6 years (2023) · South Africa: 11.6 years (2023)

South Africa welcomed 5 times as many tourists per resident as Kenya (2019)

Kenya: 0.03 (2017) · South Africa: 0.14 (2024)

South Africa has 4 more World Heritage sites than Kenya (12 against 8)

Kenya: 8 (2026) · South Africa: 12 (2026)

Kenya has won 124 Olympic medals, South Africa 95

Kenya: 124 (2026 edition) · South Africa: 95 (2026 edition)

78% of people in South Africa are online, versus 35% in Kenya

Kenya: 35% (2024) · South Africa: 78% (2024)

Home internet in South Africa is 90% faster than in Kenya

Kenya: 41 Mbps (2026) · South Africa: 78 Mbps (2026)

90% of people in South Africa have electricity, versus 77% in Kenya

Kenya: 77% (2024) · South Africa: 90.2% (2024)

64% of people in South Africa live in cities, versus 32% in Kenya

Kenya: 32% (2025) · South Africa: 64% (2025)

South Africa has 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Kenya 126

Kenya: 126 (2024) · South Africa: 179 (2024)

South Africa’s railway network is 5.5 times as long as Kenya’s

Kenya: 3,819 km (2018) · South Africa: 20,953 km (2021)

Airlines from South Africa fly 2.7 times as many passengers per resident as those from Kenya

Kenya: 0.09 (2023) · South Africa: 0.24 (2023)

Forest covers 19% of South Africa, but only 6.6% of Kenya

Kenya: 6.6% (2024) · South Africa: 18.8% (2024)

The average person in South Africa emits 18 times as much CO₂ as someone in Kenya

Kenya: 0.4 t (2024) · South Africa: 6.9 t (2024)

90% of Kenya’s electricity is renewable, versus 14% in South Africa

Kenya: 90% (2025) · South Africa: 13.6% (2025)

The air in South Africa carries 11% more fine dust than in Kenya

Kenya: 22 µg/m³ (2024) · South Africa: 24.4 µg/m³ (2024)

You are 9 times as likely to be murdered in South Africa as in Kenya

Kenya: 4.9 per 100k (2022) · South Africa: 43.7 per 100k (2022)

Roads in Kenya are 67% deadlier than in South Africa

Kenya: 55.3 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 33.1 per 100k (2023)

Kenya is on average 7.3 °C warmer than South Africa

Kenya: 25.7°C (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 18.4°C (2016–2025 avg)

Kenya gets 36% more rain than South Africa

Kenya: 696 mm (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 511 mm (2016–2025 avg)