# Central African Republic and Congo compared Central African Republic and Congo side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/caf-vs-cog Updated: 2026-08-11 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Central African Republic: 13 August 1960 — Independence from French Equatorial Africa - Congo: 15 August 1960 — Independence from French Equatorial Africa ## Economy | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $2.8 B | 2024 | $16 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $516 | 2024 | $2,482 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 1.5% | 2024 | 2.6% | 2024 | | Inflation | 1.5% | 2024 | 3.1% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 46.4% | 2024 | 93.2% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 5.3 m | 2024 | 6.3 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 57.7 yrs | 2024 | 66.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 44.1% | 2024 | 63.9% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 6.0 | 2024 | 4.1 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 33.9 | 2024 | 33.8 | 2024 | | Political stability | 34.6 | 2024 | 61.5 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 20.7 | 2024 | 29.7 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 34.9 | 2024 | 36.7 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 27.5 | 2024 | 36.7 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 21.3 | 2024 | 19.0 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 10.7% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.07 | 2023 | 0.17 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 89.7 | 2024 | 39.1 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 41.0% | 2024 | 72.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 6.2% | 2024 | 45.9% | 2021 | ## Education | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 42.4% | 2019 | 76.1% | 2005 | | Education spending | 1.8% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 96.8% | 2016 | 87.9% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 15.8% | 2017 | 50.5% | 2012 | | Tertiary enrolment | 2.8% | 2012 | 10.4% | 2023 | ## Technology | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Internet users | 13.8% | 2024 | 47.3% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 39 | 2022 | 96 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 8.3% | 2024 | 3.2% | 2023 | | R&D spending | — | — | 0.4% | 2022 | | Researchers (per million) | — | — | 127 | 2022 | ## Geography | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 622,980 km² | 2023 | 341,500 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 35.7% | 2023 | 64.1% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 9.1% | 2023 | 31.2% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.1 | 2024 | 1.3 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 90.9% | 2022 | 71.4% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 10.3% | 2021 | 37.7% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 34.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 9.5% | 2021 | 3.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 17.6% | 2023 | 51.3% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Central African Republic | Observed | Congo | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 2.5% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $71 M | 2024 | $182 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 10,000 | 2020 | 12,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CAF.md and https://terralore.co/country/COG.md. ## Entangled histories (0 events) Neither nation's sourced chronicle names the other — across both archives, no recorded event crosses between them. That is a fact about the two records as they stand, not a gap filled here. ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CAF/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/COG/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Central African Republic and Congo compared", terralore.co/compare/caf-vs-cog, retrieved .