South Africa’s coastline is 6% longer than Saudi Arabia’s

Saudi Arabia: 2,640 km (2026 edition) · South Africa: 2,798 km (2026 edition)

South Africa’s highest peak towers 450 m above Saudi Arabia’s

Saudi Arabia: 3,000 m (2026 edition) · South Africa: 3,450 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 82% of Saudi Arabia, versus 79% of South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 81.7% (2024) · South Africa: 79.4% (2024)

South Africa has 75% more people than Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 37 million (2025) · South Africa: 64.7 million (2025)

South Africa is 3.1 times as densely populated as Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 17 per km² (2025) · South Africa: 53 per km² (2025)

The typical person in Saudi Arabia is 1 year older than in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 29.2 years (2023) · South Africa: 28.2 years (2023)

Women in Saudi Arabia have 0.1 more children on average than in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 2.31 children per woman (2024) · South Africa: 2.21 children per woman (2024)

6.9% of people in South Africa are 65 or older, versus 3.1% in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 3.1% (2025) · South Africa: 6.9% (2025)

South Africa hosts 70 times as many refugees per resident as Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 0.012 per 1,000 (2025) · South Africa: 0.9 per 1,000 (2025)

South Africa has produced 1.5 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Saudi Arabia none

Saudi Arabia: 0 (2026) · South Africa: 1.5 (2026)

South Africa has 11 official languages, Saudi Arabia 1

Saudi Arabia: 1 (2026) · South Africa: 11 (2026)

Saudi Arabia’s economy is 3 times the size of South Africa’s

Saudi Arabia: $1.28 trillion (2025) · South Africa: $427 billion (2025)

Saudi Arabia produces 4.6 times as much per person as South Africa

Saudi Arabia: Int$73,784 (2025) · South Africa: Int$15,906 (2025)

Saudi Arabia: no data · South Africa: 54.1 (2022)

Saudi Arabia: no data · South Africa: 17.4% (2022)

Unemployment is 32% in South Africa, versus 3.0% in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 3% (2025) · South Africa: 32.4% (2025)

Saudi Arabia spends 6.5% of its GDP on the military, South Africa 0.7%

Saudi Arabia: 6.5% (2025) · South Africa: 0.7% (2025)

South Africa’s central government collects 26% of GDP in tax, Saudi Arabia’s 8.1%

Saudi Arabia: 8.1% (2024) · South Africa: 25.9% (2024)

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

Saudi Arabia: 47% (2025) · South Africa: 41% (2025)

Saudi Arabia spends 3.4 times as much on health per person as South Africa

Saudi Arabia: $1,825 (2023) · South Africa: $537 (2023)

A baby in South Africa is 5.1 times as likely to die before turning one as in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 4.7 per 1,000 (2024) · South Africa: 24.2 per 1,000 (2024)

Saudi Arabia has 4.3 times as many doctors per person as South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 3.4 per 1,000 (2023) · South Africa: 0.8 per 1,000 (2022)

Saudi Arabia: 2.4 per 1,000 (2023) · South Africa: no data

The suicide rate in South Africa is 7.4 times that in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 2.2 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 16.2 per 100k (2023)

39% of adults in Saudi Arabia are obese, versus 31% in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 39.2% (2024) · South Africa: 31.3% (2024)

24% of adults in South Africa smoke, versus 15% in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 14.7% (2024) · South Africa: 23.7% (2024)

People in Saudi Arabia rate their lives 1.81 points higher than in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 6.82 (2025) · South Africa: 5.01 (2025)

Saudi Arabia: no data · South Africa: 8.6 litres (2023)

South Africa and Saudi Arabia are nearly identical here

Saudi Arabia: 58.1 kg (2023) · South Africa: 58.3 kg (2023)

Saudi Arabia has 966 kcal more food per person per day than South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 3,660 kcal (2023) · South Africa: 2,694 kcal (2023)

Workers in South Africa put in 57 more hours a year than in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 2,125 hours (2023) · South Africa: 2,181 hours (2023)

South Africa and Saudi Arabia are practically level

Saudi Arabia: 11.6 years (2023) · South Africa: 11.6 years (2023)

Saudi Arabia welcomed 6 times as many tourists per resident as South Africa (2019)

Saudi Arabia: 0.84 (2024) · South Africa: 0.14 (2024)

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

Saudi Arabia: 8 (2026) · South Africa: 12 (2026)

South Africa has won 95 Olympic medals, Saudi Arabia 4

Saudi Arabia: 4 (2026 edition) · South Africa: 95 (2026 edition)

100% of people in Saudi Arabia are online, versus 78% in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 100% (2024) · South Africa: 78% (2024)

Home internet in Saudi Arabia is 2.5 times as fast as in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 196 Mbps (2026) · South Africa: 78 Mbps (2026)

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

Saudi Arabia: 100% (2024) · South Africa: 90.2% (2024)

85% of people in Saudi Arabia live in cities, versus 64% in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 85% (2025) · South Africa: 64% (2025)

South Africa has 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Saudi Arabia 160

Saudi Arabia: 160 (2024) · South Africa: 179 (2024)

South Africa’s railway network is 7.1 times as long as Saudi Arabia’s

Saudi Arabia: 2,939 km (2018) · South Africa: 20,953 km (2021)

Airlines from Saudi Arabia fly 5.4 times as many passengers per resident as those from South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 1.3 (2023) · South Africa: 0.24 (2023)

Forest covers 19% of South Africa, but only 1.3% of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 1.3% (2024) · South Africa: 18.8% (2024)

The average person in Saudi Arabia emits 3 times as much CO₂ as someone in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 20.4 t (2024) · South Africa: 6.9 t (2024)

14% of South Africa’s electricity is renewable, versus 2.2% in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 2.2% (2024) · South Africa: 13.6% (2025)

The air in Saudi Arabia carries 2.1 times as much fine dust as in South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 50.4 µg/m³ (2024) · South Africa: 24.4 µg/m³ (2024)

You are 47 times as likely to be murdered in South Africa as in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 0.9 per 100k (2019) · South Africa: 43.7 per 100k (2022)

Roads in South Africa are 55% deadlier than in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 21.4 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 33.1 per 100k (2023)

Saudi Arabia is on average 8.4 °C warmer than South Africa

Saudi Arabia: 26.8°C (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 18.4°C (2016–2025 avg)

South Africa gets 8.3 times as much rain as Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: 61 mm (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 511 mm (2016–2025 avg)