Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Australia 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 Australia, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2020.

live 17.8 years longer

In South Africa, the average life expectancy is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022. In Australia, that number is 83 years (81 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 4.2 times more money

South Africa has a GDP per capita of $14,300 as of 2023, while in Australia, the GDP per capita is $59,500 as of 2023.

be 86.9% less likely to be unemployed

In South Africa, 28.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Australia, that number is 3.7% as of 2023.

be 19.3% less likely to live below the poverty line

In South Africa, 16.6% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Australia, however, that number is 13.4% as of 2020.

Life

be 97.6% less likely to die during childbirth

In South Africa, approximately 127.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Australia, 3.0 women do as of 2020.

be 88.4% 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 Australia, on the other hand, 3.0 children do as of 2022.

have 31.1% fewer children

In South Africa, there are approximately 17.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Australia, there are 12.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 15.6% more likely to have access to electricity

In South Africa, approximately 86% of the population has electricity access as of 2022. In Australia, 100% of the population do as of 2022.

be 33.3% more likely to have internet access

In South Africa, approximately 72.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Australia, about 96.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 24.4% more on healthcare

South Africa spends 8.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Australia, that number is 10.7% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 9.2 times more coastline

South Africa has a total of 2,798 km of coastline. In Australia, that number is 25,760 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Australia: At a glance

Australia is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 7,682,300 sq km. Prehistoric settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession of the east coast in the name of Great Britain (all of Australia was claimed as British territory in 1829 with the creation of the colony of Western Australia). Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the Allied effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has become an internationally competitive, advanced market economy due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s and its location in one of the fastest growing regions of the world economy. Long-term concerns include aging of the population, pressure on infrastructure, and environmental issues such as floods, droughts, and bushfires. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, making it particularly vulnerable to the challenges of climate change. Australia is home to 10 per cent of the world's biodiversity, and a great number of its flora and fauna exist nowhere else in the world. In January 2013, Australia assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.
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How big is Australia compared to South Africa? See an in-depth size comparison.

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