# Cameroon and Congo compared

Cameroon and Congo side by side: 40 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/cmr-vs-cog
Updated: 2026-08-10 (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

- Cameroon: 1 January 1960 — French Cameroun becomes independent as the UN trusteeship ends
- Congo: 15 August 1960 — Independence from French Equatorial Africa

## Economy

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $53 B | 2024 | $16 B | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $1,830 | 2024 | $2,482 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 3.5% | 2024 | 2.6% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 4.5% | 2024 | 3.1% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 34.4% | 2024 | 93.2% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 29 m | 2024 | 6.3 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 64.0 yrs | 2024 | 66.0 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 55.4% | 2024 | 63.9% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 4.3 | 2024 | 4.1 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 35.1 | 2024 | 33.8 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 39.3 | 2024 | 61.5 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 35.8 | 2024 | 29.7 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 43.4 | 2024 | 36.7 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 35.4 | 2024 | 36.7 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 23.1 | 2024 | 19.0 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 4.6% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 0.14 | 2022 | 0.17 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 64.8 | 2024 | 39.1 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 71.0% | 2024 | 72.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | — | — | 45.9% | 2021 |

## Education

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 72.6% | 2018 | 76.1% | 2005 |
| Education spending | 2.8% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2023 |
| Primary enrolment | 114.4% | 2024 | 87.9% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 44.8% | 2023 | 50.5% | 2012 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 16.7% | 2024 | 10.4% | 2023 |

## Technology

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 46.3% | 2024 | 47.3% | 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 108 | 2024 | 96 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 2.1% | 2023 | 3.2% | 2023 |
| R&D spending | — | — | 0.4% | 2022 |
| Researchers (per million) | — | — | 127 | 2022 |

## Geography

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 472,710 km² | 2023 | 341,500 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 42.7% | 2023 | 64.1% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 20.9% | 2023 | 31.2% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.4 | 2024 | 1.3 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 79.2% | 2021 | 71.4% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 5.5% | 2021 | 37.7% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 2.4% | 2021 | 34.4% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 2.6% | 2021 | 3.0% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 72.0% | 2023 | 51.3% | 2023 |

## Military

| Metric | Cameroon | Observed | Congo | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 1.0% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $535 M | 2024 | $182 M | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 34,000 | 2020 | 12,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CMR.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/CMR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/COG/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Cameroon and Congo compared", terralore.co/compare/cmr-vs-cog, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.
