This country comparison is a concise, tabular overview of numerous data from our respective country pages for Australia and South Africa. There, we provide many explanations and details per country that go far beyond this comparison.
See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
General information
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: | Australia/New Zealand | Southern Africa |
| Area: | 7,741,220 km² | 1,219,090 km² |
| National language: | English | Zulu |
| Government form: | Parliamentary democracy (under constitutional monarchy) | Parliamentary republic |
| Independent since: | 1901 AD | 1910 AD |
| Capital: | Canberra | Pretoria |
Population
Details for Australia and South Africa| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Population: | 25,688,000 | 59,392,000 |
| Inhabitants/km²: | 3.3 | 48.7 |
| Life expectancy males: | Ø 81 years | Ø 62 years |
| Life expectancy females: | Ø 85 years | Ø 68 years |
| Average age: | Ø 37.5 years | Ø 28.0 years |
| Birth rate: | 11.50 ‰ | 20.33 ‰ |
| Death rate: | 6.30 ‰ | 9.43 ‰ |
| Migrationrate: | 6.93 ‰ | -0.12 ‰ |
Quality of life
Values from 0 (bad) to 100 (very good)See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Political stability: | 87 | 41 |
| Civil rights: | 95 | 54 |
| Health: | 87 | 32 |
| Climate: | 90 | 95 |
| Cost of Living: | 24 | 49 |
| Popularity: | 42 | 40 |
Economy
Details for Australia and South Africa| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency: | Australian dollar (1 AUD = 100 Cents) | South African rand (1 ZAR =100 Cents) |
| Unemployment rate: | 5.1 % | 33.6 % |
| Inflation rate: | 2.86 % | 4.61 % |
| Cost of Living: (USA = 100%) | 118.01 % | 47.12 % |
| Commercial taxes and contributions: | 47.40 % | 29.20 % |
| Average income: | 57,170 US$ | 6,530 US$ |
| Corruption index: | 25 (good) | 57 (bad) |
| AUS: total | per 1000 inh. | ZAF: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross domestic product: | 1,552,667 M US$ | 60.44 M US$ | 419,015 M US$ | 7.06 M US$ |
| Gross national product: | 1,468,490 M US$ | 57.17 M US$ | 387,776 M US$ | 6.53 M US$ |
| Exported goods: | 389,794 M US$ | 15.17 M US$ | 130,885 M US$ | 2.20 M US$ |
| Imported goods: | 298,712 M US$ | 11.63 M US$ | 104,806 M US$ | 1.76 M US$ |
Infrastructure
Details for Australia and South Africa| AUS: total | per 1000 inh. | ZAF: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways: | 873,573 km | 34.01 km | 750,000 km | 12.63 km |
| Railways: | 33,343 km | 1.30 km | 20,986 km | 0.35 km |
| Harbours: | 581 | 0.0226 | 105 | 0.0018 |
| Passenger airports: | 157 | 0.0061 | 22 | 0.0004 |
Energy balance
Details for Australia and South Africa| AUS: total | per 1000 inh. | ZAF: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy consumption: | 229.40 bn kWh | 8.93 m kWh | 207.10 bn kWh | 3.49 m kWh |
| Energy production: | 243.00 bn kWh | 9.46 m kWh | 234.50 bn kWh | 3.95 m kWh |
| Energy export: | 0.00 kWh | 0.00 kWh | 16.55 bn kWh | 278,655.86 kWh |
| Energy imports: | 0.00 kWh | 0.00 kWh | 10.56 bn kWh | 177,800.96 kWh |
| CO2 emissions: | 386.53 m t | 15,047.06 t | 439.64 m t | 7,402.31 t |
Telecommunication
Details for Australia and South Africa| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| International dialing: | +61 | +27 |
| Internet domain: | .au | .za |
| AUS total | AUS per 1000 inh. | ZAF total | ZAF per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlines: | 4,600,000 | 179 | 1,472,191 | 25 |
| Mobile cellulars: | 27,090,000 | 1055 | 100,328,005 | 1689 |
| Internet server: | 17,081,000 | 665 | 4,761,000 | 80 |
| Internet users: | 23,016,519 | 896 | 41,574,579 | 700 |
| Broadband Internet: | 9,082,537 | 354 | 1,694,648 | 29 |
Healthcare system
Details for Australia and South Africa| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital beds per 1000 inh.: | 3.84 | 2.80 |
| Physicians per 1000 inh.: | 3.59 | 0.91 |
| Diabetes: | 5.6 % | 12.7 % |
| HIV: | 0.04 % | 6.90 % |
| Tuberculosis: | 0.07 ‰ | 5.13 ‰ |
| Tuberculosis cure rate: | 90.0 % | 78.0 % |
| Smokers: | 13.6 % | 20.3 % |
Climate
We also provide a more detailed climate comparison of both countries.The data for each country can be found here: Australia and South Africa
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime temperatures: | 24.3 °C | 24.7 °C |
| Nighttime temperatures: | 12.6 °C | 11.6 °C |
| Water temperature: | 26.3 °C | 19.6 °C |
| Rel. humidity: | 64 % | 62 % |
| Rain days: | 5.9 | 4.7 |
| Sunshine hours per day: | 7.9 | 8.5 |
Native languages
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| English: | 76.8 % | 9.6 % |
| Zulu: | n/a | 22.7 % |
| Xhosa: | n/a | 16.0 % |
| Afrikaans: | n/a | 13.5 % |
| Sepedi: | n/a | 9.1 % |
| Tswana: | n/a | 8.0 % |
| Sotho: | n/a | 7.6 % |
| Tsonga: | n/a | 4.5 % |
| Chinese: | 2.8 % | n/a |
| Swazi: | n/a | 2.5 % |
| Venda: | n/a | 2.4 % |
| Ndebele: | n/a | 2.1 % |
| Italian: | 1.4 % | n/a |
| Arabic: | 1.3 % | n/a |
| Vietnamese: | 1.1 % | n/a |
| Greek: | 1.1 % | n/a |
| other: | 15.5 % | 2.0 % |
Religions
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity: | 62.1 % | 68.6 % |
| Nondenominational: | 22.3 % | 15.1 % |
| Buddhism: | 2.5 % | n/a |
| Islam: | 2.2 % | 1.5 % |
| Hinduism: | 1.3 % | n/a |
| Jewry: | 0.5 % | 0.2 % |
| Sikhism: | 0.5 % | n/a |
| other: | 8.6 % | 14.6 % |