Quality of life comparison
If you lived in South Africa instead of Italy, you would:
Health
be 95.5 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Italy, 0.2% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In South Africa, that number is 19.1% of people as of 2020.
live 17.3 years less
In Italy, the average life expectancy is 83 years (80 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022. In South Africa, that number is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022.
be 42.2% more likely to be obese
In Italy, 19.9% of adults are obese as of 2016. In South Africa, that number is 28.3% of people as of 2016.
Economy
be 17.4% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Italy, 20.1% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In South Africa, however, that number is 16.6% as of 2016.
make 69.5% less money
Italy has a GDP per capita of $44,300 as of 2022, while in South Africa, the GDP per capita is $13,500 as of 2022.
be 3.6 times more likely to be unemployed
In Italy, 8.1% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In South Africa, that number is 28.8% as of 2022.
Life
have 2.5 times more children
In Italy, there are approximately 7.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In South Africa, there are 17.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 25.4 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Italy, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In South Africa, 127.0 women do as of 2020.
be 8.2 times more likely to die during infancy
In Italy, approximately 3.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In South Africa, on the other hand, 25.9 children do as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 10.7% less likely to have access to electricity
In Italy, approximately 100% of the population has electricity access as of 2021. In South Africa, 89% of the population do as of 2021.
Expenditures
spend 10.4% less on healthcare
Italy spends 9.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In South Africa, that number is 8.6% of GDP as of 2020.
spend 53.5% more on education
Italy spends 4.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. South Africa spends 6.6% of total GDP on education as of 2021.
Geography
see 63.2% less coastline
Italy has a total of 7,600 km of coastline. In South Africa, that number is 2,798 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
South Africa: At a glance
How big is South Africa compared to Italy? See an in-depth size comparison.