Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Algeria instead of South Africa, you would:

Health

be 99.5% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In South Africa, 19.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Algeria, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2020.

live 12.7 years longer

In South Africa, the average life expectancy is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022. In Algeria, that number is 78 years (77 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 57.8% less likely to be unemployed

In South Africa, 28.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Algeria, that number is 11.8% as of 2023.

be 66.9% less likely to live below the poverty line

In South Africa, 16.6% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Algeria, however, that number is 5.5% as of 2011.

pay a 22.2% lower top tax rate

South Africa has a top tax rate of 45.0% as of 2017. In Algeria, the top tax rate is 35.0% as of 2016.

Life

be 38.6% less likely to die during childbirth

In South Africa, approximately 127.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Algeria, 78.0 women do as of 2020.

be 23.8% less likely to die during infancy

In South Africa, approximately 25.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Algeria, on the other hand, 19.7 children do as of 2022.

have 14.1% more children

In South Africa, there are approximately 17.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Algeria, there are 20.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 14.3% less likely to be literate

In South Africa, the literacy rate is 95.0% as of 2019. In Algeria, it is 81.4% as of 2018.

Basic Needs

be 15.6% more likely to have access to electricity

In South Africa, approximately 86% of people have electricity access (87% in urban areas, and 92% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Algeria, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 99% in rural areas) as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 26.7% less on healthcare

South Africa spends 8.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Algeria, that number is 6.3% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 64.3% less coastline

South Africa has a total of 2,798 km of coastline. In Algeria, that number is 998 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, South African Revenue Service, Direction Générale des Impôts, Algeria.

Algeria: At a glance

Algeria is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 2,381,740 sq km. After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), was established in 1954 as part of the struggle for independence and has largely dominated politics since. The Government of Algeria in 1988 instituted a multi-party system in response to public unrest, but the surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting led the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. Fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense violence from 1992-98, resulting in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s, and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, with the backing of the military, won the presidency in 1999 in an election widely viewed as fraudulent. He was reelected to a second term in 2004 and overwhelmingly won a third term in 2009, after the government amended the constitution in 2008 to remove presidential term limits. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA, including large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing activities of extremist militants. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 2006 merged with al-Qa'ida to form al-Qa'ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which has launched an ongoing series of kidnappings and bombings targeting the Algerian Government and Western interests. The government in 2011 introduced some political reforms in response to the Arab Spring, including lifting the 19-year-old state of emergency restrictions and increasing women's quotas for elected assemblies. Parliamentary elections in May 2012 and municipal and provincial elections in November 2012 saw continued dominance by the FLN, with Islamist opposition parties performing poorly. Political protest activity in the country remained low in 2013, but small, sometimes violent socioeconomic demonstrations by disparate groups continued to be a common occurrence. Parliament in 2014 is expected to revise the constitution.
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