South Africa’s coastline is 12 times as long as Romania’s

Romania: 225 km (2026 edition) · South Africa: 2,798 km (2026 edition)

South Africa’s highest peak towers 906 m above Romania’s

Romania: 2,544 m (2026 edition) · South Africa: 3,450 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 79% of South Africa, versus 55% of Romania

Romania: 55.2% (2024) · South Africa: 79.4% (2024)

South Africa has 3.4 times as many people as Romania

Romania: 19 million (2025) · South Africa: 64.7 million (2025)

Romania is 55% more densely populated than South Africa

Romania: 83 per km² (2025) · South Africa: 53 per km² (2025)

The typical person in Romania is 14 years older than in South Africa

Romania: 42.6 years (2023) · South Africa: 28.2 years (2023)

Women in South Africa have 0.8 more children on average than in Romania

Romania: 1.39 children per woman (2024) · South Africa: 2.21 children per woman (2024)

20% of people in Romania are 65 or older, versus 6.9% in South Africa

Romania: 20.1% (2025) · South Africa: 6.9% (2025)

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

Romania: 10.9 per 1,000 (2025) · South Africa: 0.9 per 1,000 (2025)

Romania has produced 2.1 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, South Africa 1.5

Romania: 2.1 (2026) · South Africa: 1.5 (2026)

South Africa has 11 official languages, Romania 1

Romania: 1 (2026) · South Africa: 11 (2026)

Romania and South Africa are nearly identical here

Romania: $429 billion (2025) · South Africa: $427 billion (2025)

Romania produces 3.2 times as much per person as South Africa

Romania: Int$50,895 (2025) · South Africa: Int$15,906 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in South Africa than in Romania (Gini 24.3 points higher)

Romania: 29.8 (2023) · South Africa: 54.1 (2022)

17% of people in South Africa live on less than $3 a day, versus 0.7% in Romania

Romania: 0.7% (2023) · South Africa: 17.4% (2022)

Unemployment is 32% in South Africa, versus 6.0% in Romania

Romania: 6% (2025) · South Africa: 32.4% (2025)

Romania spends 2.3% of its GDP on the military, South Africa 0.7%

Romania: 2.3% (2025) · South Africa: 0.7% (2025)

South Africa’s central government collects 26% of GDP in tax, Romania’s 16%

Romania: 16.2% (2024) · South Africa: 25.9% (2024)

Romania’s price level (US = 100) is 1.1× South Africa’s

Romania: 44% (2025) · South Africa: 41% (2025)

Romania spends 2 times as much on health per person as South Africa

Romania: $1,051 (2023) · South Africa: $537 (2023)

A baby in South Africa is 4 times as likely to die before turning one as in Romania

Romania: 6 per 1,000 (2024) · South Africa: 24.2 per 1,000 (2024)

Romania has 4.6 times as many doctors per person as South Africa

Romania: 3.6 per 1,000 (2022) · South Africa: 0.8 per 1,000 (2022)

Romania: 7.2 per 1,000 (2022) · South Africa: no data

The suicide rate in South Africa is 2 times that in Romania

Romania: 8.2 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 16.2 per 100k (2023)

38% of adults in Romania are obese, versus 31% in South Africa

Romania: 37.7% (2024) · South Africa: 31.3% (2024)

30% of adults in Romania smoke, versus 24% in South Africa

Romania: 29.7% (2024) · South Africa: 23.7% (2024)

People in Romania rate their lives 1.62 points higher than in South Africa

Romania: 6.63 (2025) · South Africa: 5.01 (2025)

Adults in Romania drink 2 times as much alcohol as in South Africa

Romania: 17.1 litres (2023) · South Africa: 8.6 litres (2023)

Romania has 24% more meat per person than South Africa

Romania: 72.5 kg (2023) · South Africa: 58.3 kg (2023)

Romania has 955 kcal more food per person per day than South Africa

Romania: 3,649 kcal (2023) · South Africa: 2,694 kcal (2023)

Workers in South Africa put in 356 more hours a year than in Romania

Romania: 1,826 hours (2023) · South Africa: 2,181 hours (2023)

Adults in South Africa went to school 0.06 years longer than in Romania

Romania: 11.6 years (2023) · South Africa: 11.6 years (2023)

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

Romania: 0.7 (2024) · South Africa: 0.14 (2024)

South Africa has 1 more World Heritage site than Romania (12 against 11)

Romania: 11 (2026) · South Africa: 12 (2026)

Romania has won 318 Olympic medals, South Africa 95

Romania: 318 (2026 edition) · South Africa: 95 (2026 edition)

91% of people in Romania are online, versus 78% in South Africa

Romania: 91% (2024) · South Africa: 78% (2024)

Home internet in Romania is 4 times as fast as in South Africa

Romania: 316 Mbps (2026) · South Africa: 78 Mbps (2026)

100% of people in Romania have electricity, versus 90% in South Africa

Romania: 100% (2024) · South Africa: 90.2% (2024)

64% of people in South Africa live in cities, versus 52% in Romania

Romania: 52% (2025) · South Africa: 64% (2025)

South Africa has 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Romania 120

Romania: 120 (2024) · South Africa: 179 (2024)

South Africa’s railway network is 95% longer than Romania’s

Romania: 10,769 km (2021) · South Africa: 20,953 km (2021)

Airlines from South Africa fly 62% more passengers per resident than those from Romania

Romania: 0.15 (2023) · South Africa: 0.24 (2023)

Forest covers 30% of Romania, but only 19% of South Africa

Romania: 30.2% (2024) · South Africa: 18.8% (2024)

The average person in South Africa emits 91% more CO₂ than someone in Romania

Romania: 3.6 t (2024) · South Africa: 6.9 t (2024)

47% of Romania’s electricity is renewable, versus 14% in South Africa

Romania: 47% (2025) · South Africa: 13.6% (2025)

The air in South Africa carries 71% more fine dust than in Romania

Romania: 14.3 µg/m³ (2024) · South Africa: 24.4 µg/m³ (2024)

You are 39 times as likely to be murdered in South Africa as in Romania

Romania: 1.1 per 100k (2024) · South Africa: 43.7 per 100k (2022)

Roads in South Africa are 2.4 times as deadly as in Romania

Romania: 13.6 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 33.1 per 100k (2023)

South Africa is on average 7.4 °C warmer than Romania

Romania: 11°C (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 18.4°C (2016–2025 avg)

Romania gets 48% more rain than South Africa

Romania: 758 mm (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 511 mm (2016–2025 avg)