Matchup file

Namibia vs South Africa

122 shared metrics.

NamibiaLeads in 43

vs122 shared

South AfricaLeads in 79

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South Africa leads by 36 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Namibia

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Namibia.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Namibia's Namib Desert is considered the oldest desert on Earth.

NASA

South Africa

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of South Africa.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

South Africa splits its capitals three ways: Pretoria runs administration, Cape Town legislates, and Bloemfontein anchors the judiciary.

Gov.za

Analysis

South Africa leads in 79 of 122 shared metrics, while Namibia leads in 43.

Namibia's FDI Inflows (% GDP) is 24.4x that of South Africa (14.76% of GDP vs 0.58% of GDP).

Namibia's Firms Asked for Bribes is 8.0x that of South Africa (13.77% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Namibia's EV Chargers per 100,000 People is 7.8x that of South Africa (0.07 per 100k people vs 0.01 per 100k people).

Namibia's GDP Growth Rate is 5.9x that of South Africa (3.7% vs 0.53%).

Namibia's Solar Electricity Share is 3.4x that of South Africa (35.37% vs 8.0%).

Key Comparisons

FDI Inflows (% GDP)Namibia leads

Namibia

14.76% of GDP

South Africa

0.58% of GDP

Firms Asked for BribesNamibia leads

Namibia

13.77% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)Namibia leads

Namibia

0.07 per 100k people

South Africa

0.01 per 100k people

GDP Growth RateNamibia leads

Namibia

3.7%

South Africa

0.53%

Solar Electricity ShareNamibia leads

Namibia

35.37%

South Africa

8.0%

Protected Land (%)Namibia leads

Namibia

South Africa

Namibia

2.4%

South Africa

81.36%

97% lower

Comparison of Namibia and South Africa across 122 metrics
				Winner
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	14.76% of GDP	0.58% of GDP	2441% higher	Namibia
Firms Asked for Bribes	13.77% of firms	1.5% of firms	796% higher	Namibia
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.07 per 100k people	0.01 per 100k people	775% higher	Namibia
GDP Growth Rate	3.7%	0.53%	594% higher	Namibia
Solar Electricity Share	35.37%	8.0%	341% higher	Namibia
Protected Land (%)	39.9%	9.5%	320% higher	Namibia
Firms Making Informal Payments	5.9% of firms	1.5% of firms	297% higher	Namibia
Military Spending	2.7% of GDP	0.70% of GDP	291% higher	Namibia
Nurses & Midwives	3.4 per 1k	1.0 per 1k	223% higher	Namibia
Renewable Energy (%)	30%	9.7%	209% higher	Namibia
Imports (% GDP)	67.98% of GDP	29.85% of GDP	128% higher	Namibia
Air Passengers	60.3K	15.45M	100% lower	South Africa
Water Withdrawal	0.10 B m³	21.11 B m³	100% lower	South Africa
Irrigated Land	80 km²	16.7K km²	100% lower	South Africa
Scientific Publications	219.77	16.7K	99% lower	South Africa
Total CO2 Emissions	3.6 Mt CO2e	440.17 Mt CO2e	99% lower	South Africa
Electric Generating Capacity	646.0K kW	65.99M kW	99% lower	South Africa
Electricity Generation	1.9 TWh	244.81 TWh	99% lower	South Africa
High-Tech Exports (%)	0.12%	5.7%	98% lower	South Africa
Coal Electricity Share	2.4%	81.36%	97% lower	South Africa
GDP (Nominal)	$13,372,354,511.72	$401,144,998,373.59	97% lower	South Africa
Water Stress (%)	1.7%	47.12%	96% lower	South Africa
Shipping Traffic	160.4K	4.05M	96% lower	South Africa
Population	2.85M	61.09M	95% lower	South Africa
Tourist Arrivals	187.1K	3.89M	95% lower	South Africa
All-Time Olympic Medals	5.0 medals	95 medals	95% lower	South Africa
Tourism Revenue	$155,000,000	$2,716,000,000	94% lower	South Africa
Government Debt (% GDP)	4.6% of GDP	79.45% of GDP	94% lower	South Africa
Population Density	3.6 /km²	52.11 /km²	93% lower	South Africa
Electricity Carbon Intensity	48.78 gCO2/kWh	699.29 gCO2/kWh	93% lower	South Africa
Official Languages Count	1.0	12	92% lower	South Africa
Railway Length	2.6K km	30.4K km	91% lower	South Africa
Seafood Consumption per Person	12.11 kg/person/yr	6.5 kg/person/yr	86% higher	Namibia
Merchant Fleet Size	15	110	86% lower	South Africa
CO2 Per Capita	1.1 t/person/yr	6.9 t/person/yr	83% lower	South Africa
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	2.0 sites	12 sites	83% lower	South Africa
Armed Forces Personnel	16.0K	89.0K	82% lower	South Africa
Wind Electricity Share	1.2%	4.7%	74% lower	South Africa
Homicide Rate	11.21 per 100k	43.72 per 100k	74% lower	South Africa
Energy Use (Per Capita)	692.46 kg oil eq/person	1.9K kg oil eq/person	64% lower	South Africa
Forest Area	64.3K km²	169.4K km²	62% lower	South Africa
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	1.2K kWh/person	3.2K kWh/person	62% lower	South Africa
Suicide Rate	8.6 per 100k	22.3 per 100k	61% lower	South Africa
Informal Employment Share	55.64% of employed people	34.81% of employed people	60% higher	Namibia
Beer Consumption	1.3 L/person/yr	3.1 L/person/yr	58% lower	South Africa
Spirits Consumption	0.46 L/person/yr	1.1 L/person/yr	57% lower	South Africa
Infant Mortality	38.4 per 1k births	24.4 per 1k births	57% higher	Namibia
Mobile Money Accounts	48.45% of adults	31.62% of adults	53% higher	Namibia
Education Spending (% GDP)	9.1% of GDP	6.0% of GDP	51% higher	Namibia
Sanitation Access (%)	38.72%	77.38%	50% lower	South Africa
Airports	294	583	50% lower	South Africa
Obesity Rate	15.29%	30.03%	49% lower	South Africa
Political Corruption Index	0.27	0.54	49% lower	South Africa
Meat Consumption per Person	30.53 kg/person/yr	60.03 kg/person/yr	49% lower	South Africa
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	85 per 100 people	167 per 100 people	49% lower	South Africa
Researchers	224.81 per 1M	444.16 per 1M	49% lower	South Africa
Food Waste per Person	136.75 kg/person/yr	93.36 kg/person/yr	46% higher	Namibia
Elderly Population (%)	3.7%	6.7%	45% lower	South Africa
Coastline Length	1.6K km	2.8K km	44% lower	South Africa
Forest Coverage (%)	7.8%	13.97%	44% lower	South Africa
Youth Population (%)	36.98%	25.88%	43% higher	Namibia
Dependency Ratio	68.5% of working-age pop.	48.31% of working-age pop.	42% higher	Namibia
Unemployment Rate	19.15%	33.17%	42% lower	South Africa
Insufficient Physical Activity	26.21% of adults	44.8% of adults	42% lower	South Africa
Firms Hit by Power Outages	53.68% of firms	92.02% of firms	42% lower	South Africa
Agricultural Land (%)	47.14%	79.42%	41% lower	South Africa
Birth Rate	23.93 per 1k	17.21 per 1k	39% higher	Namibia
Youth Unemployment Rate	38.05% of youth labor force	59.93% of youth labor force	37% lower	South Africa
Electricity Access (%)	56.7%	87.7%	35% lower	South Africa
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	67.43 per 100k	50.46 per 100k	34% higher	Namibia
Time Zones Count	2.0 time zones	3.0 time zones	33% lower	South Africa
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	20 days/yr	15 days/yr	33% higher	Namibia
Broadband Access (%)	4.0 per 100 people	3.0 per 100 people	33% higher	Namibia
Can Raise Emergency Money	90.87% of adults	68.2% of adults	33% higher	Namibia
Border Neighbors	4.0	6.0	33% lower	South Africa
Smoking Rate	14.1%	20.7%	32% lower	South Africa
Land Area	823.3K km²	1.21M km²	32% lower	South Africa
Milk Consumption per Person	73.05 kg/person/yr	55.75 kg/person/yr	31% higher	Namibia
Exports (% GDP)	41.64% of GDP	31.79% of GDP	31% higher	Namibia
GNI Per Capita	$4,240	$6,110	31% lower	South Africa
Doctors (per 1,000)	0.55 per 1k	0.79 per 1k	30% lower	South Africa
Tax Revenue (% GDP)	32.96% of GDP	25.4% of GDP	30% higher	Namibia
Alcohol Consumption	5.0 L/adult/yr	7.1 L/adult/yr	29% lower	South Africa
Health Spending Per Capita	$405.59	$569.84	29% lower	South Africa
Firms with Female Top Manager	27.53% of firms	38.51% of firms	29% lower	South Africa
Teen Birth Rate	66.03 per 1k	51.56 per 1k	28% higher	Namibia
Fertility Rate	2.9 children/woman	2.2 children/woman	28% higher	Namibia
Median Age	21.0 years	28.2 years	26% lower	South Africa
Highest Elevation	2.6K m	3.5K m	25% lower	South Africa
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$11,686.6	$15,456.2	24% lower	South Africa
Women in Senior Management	48.24% of managers	39.27% of managers	23% higher	Namibia
Urban Population (%)	50.41%	63.69%	21% lower	South Africa
Land Border Length	4.2K km	5.2K km	20% lower	South Africa
Liberal Democracy Index	0.52	0.63	18% lower	South Africa
Capital Elevation	1.6K m	1.4K m	18% higher	Namibia
Child Mortality	40.7 per 1k births	34.7 per 1k births	17% higher	Namibia
Internet Users (%)	64%	76%	16% lower	South Africa
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	19.99 µg/m³	23.75 µg/m³	16% lower	South Africa
Electoral Democracy Index	0.63	0.74	15% lower	South Africa
Corruption Perceptions Index	46 pts	41 pts	12% higher	Namibia
University Enrollment Rate	26.11%	23.49%	11% higher	Namibia
Human Development Index	0.67	0.74	10% lower	South Africa
Road Traffic Death Rate	22 per 100k	24.5 per 100k	10% lower	South Africa
Women in Parliament (%)	40.63%	44.7%	9% lower	South Africa
Average Weekly Work Hours	44.91 hrs/week	42.39 hrs/week	6% higher	Namibia
Health Spending (% GDP)	9.3% of GDP	8.8% of GDP	6% higher	Namibia
Inflation Rate	4.2%	4.4%	5% lower	South Africa
Life Evaluation Score	4.8 pts	5.0 pts	5% lower	South Africa
R&D Spending (% GDP)	0.65% of GDP	0.62% of GDP	5% higher	Namibia
Adult Literacy Rate	87.64%	91.15%	4% lower	South Africa
Credit Card Ownership	9.2% of adults	9.7% of adults	4% lower	South Africa
Women's Political Empowerment	0.85	0.83	3% higher	Namibia
Death Rate	6.4 per 1k	6.6 per 1k	3% lower	South Africa
Freedom of Expression Index	0.86	0.84	3% higher	Namibia
Life Expectancy	67.4 years	66.1 years	2% higher	Namibia
Hypertension Prevalence	44.7% of adults	44.4% of adults	1% higher	Namibia
Digital Payments Used	67.62% of adults	67.17% of adults	1% higher	Namibia
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0 per 1M people	0.15 per 1M people	ranked lower	South Africa
Lowest Elevation	0 m	0 m	ranked higher	Namibia
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	-13.2% of GDP	-0.5% of GDP	ranked lower	South Africa
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	0 gold medals	28 gold medals	ranked lower	South Africa
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 1M people	3.5 per 1M people	ranked lower	South Africa

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Namibia South Africa

Analysis

South Africa leads in 79 of 122 shared metrics, while Namibia leads in 43.

Namibia's FDI Inflows (% GDP) is 24.4x that of South Africa (14.76% of GDP vs 0.58% of GDP).

Namibia's Firms Asked for Bribes is 8.0x that of South Africa (13.77% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Namibia's EV Chargers per 100,000 People is 7.8x that of South Africa (0.07 per 100k people vs 0.01 per 100k people).

Namibia's GDP Growth Rate is 5.9x that of South Africa (3.7% vs 0.53%).

Namibia's Solar Electricity Share is 3.4x that of South Africa (35.37% vs 8.0%).

Key Comparisons

FDI Inflows (% GDP)Namibia leads

Namibia

14.76% of GDP

South Africa

0.58% of GDP

Firms Asked for BribesNamibia leads

Namibia

13.77% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

Namibia

0.07 per 100k people

South Africa

0.01 per 100k people

GDP Growth RateNamibia leads

Namibia

3.7%

South Africa

0.53%

Solar Electricity ShareNamibia leads

Namibia

35.37%

South Africa

8.0%

Protected Land (%)Namibia leads

Namibia

39.9%

South Africa

9.5%

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

14.76% of GDP

0.58% of GDP

Firms Asked for Bribes

13.77% of firms

1.5% of firms

0.07 per 100k people

0.01 per 100k people

GDP Growth Rate

3.7%

0.53%

Solar Electricity Share

35.37%

8.0%

Protected Land (%)

39.9%

9.5%

Firms Making Informal Payments

5.9% of firms

1.5% of firms

Military Spending

2.7% of GDP

0.70% of GDP

Nurses & Midwives

3.4 per 1k

1.0 per 1k

Renewable Energy (%)

30%

9.7%

Imports (% GDP)

67.98% of GDP

29.85% of GDP

Air Passengers

60.3K

15.45M

Water Withdrawal

0.10 B m³

21.11 B m³

Irrigated Land

80 km²

16.7K km²

Scientific Publications

219.77

16.7K

Total CO2 Emissions

3.6 Mt CO2e

440.17 Mt CO2e

Electric Generating Capacity

646.0K kW

65.99M kW

Electricity Generation

1.9 TWh

244.81 TWh

High-Tech Exports (%)

0.12%

5.7%

Coal Electricity Share

2.4%

81.36%

Namibia vs South Africa

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Namibia

South Africa

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

Firms Asked for Bribes

EV Chargers per 100,000 People

GDP Growth Rate

Solar Electricity Share

Protected Land (%)

Firms Making Informal Payments

Military Spending

Nurses & Midwives

Renewable Energy (%)

Imports (% GDP)

Air Passengers

Water Withdrawal

Irrigated Land

Scientific Publications

Total CO2 Emissions

Electric Generating Capacity

Electricity Generation

High-Tech Exports (%)

Coal Electricity Share

GDP (Nominal)

Water Stress (%)

Shipping Traffic

Population

Tourist Arrivals

All-Time Olympic Medals

Tourism Revenue

Government Debt (% GDP)

Population Density

Electricity Carbon Intensity

Official Languages Count

Railway Length

Seafood Consumption per Person

Merchant Fleet Size

CO2 Per Capita

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Armed Forces Personnel

Wind Electricity Share

Homicide Rate

Energy Use (Per Capita)

Forest Area

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

Suicide Rate

Informal Employment Share

Beer Consumption

Spirits Consumption

Infant Mortality

Mobile Money Accounts

Education Spending (% GDP)

Sanitation Access (%)

Airports

Obesity Rate

Political Corruption Index

Meat Consumption per Person

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

Researchers

Food Waste per Person

Elderly Population (%)

Coastline Length

Forest Coverage (%)

Youth Population (%)

Dependency Ratio

Unemployment Rate

Insufficient Physical Activity

Firms Hit by Power Outages

Agricultural Land (%)

Birth Rate

Youth Unemployment Rate

Electricity Access (%)

ATMs per 100,000 Adults

Time Zones Count

Minimum Paid Vacation Days