# Ethiopia and South Sudan compared Ethiopia and South Sudan side by side: 37 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/eth-vs-sds 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 - Ethiopia: 1st century CE — The Kingdom of Aksum rises on the Ethiopian plateau - South Sudan: 9 July 2011 — The Republic of South Sudan declares independence ## Economy | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $150 B | 2024 | $12 B | 2015 | | GDP per capita | $1,134 | 2024 | $1,080 | 2015 | | GDP growth | 7.6% | 2024 | -10.8% | 2015 | | Inflation | 21.0% | 2024 | 91.4% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 17.4% | 2024 | 65.6% | 2015 | ## Society | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 132 m | 2024 | 12 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 67.6 yrs | 2024 | 57.7 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 23.6% | 2024 | 21.4% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 3.9 | 2024 | 3.8 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 35.1 | 2024 | 23.7 | 2024 | | Political stability | 33.7 | 2024 | 40.4 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 38.8 | 2024 | 9.1 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 41.7 | 2024 | 24.4 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 38.9 | 2024 | 23.0 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 39.0 | 2024 | 6.1 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 2.8% | 2023 | 11.6% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.14 | 2023 | 0.04 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 44.5 | 2024 | 96.7 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 72.0% | 2024 | 72.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 13.5% | 2024 | — | — | ## Education | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 60.5% | 2022 | 26.8% | 2008 | | Education spending | 2.3% | 2024 | 1.6% | 2016 | | Primary enrolment | 84.4% | 2024 | 98.4% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 33.9% | 2015 | 122.1% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 5.9% | 2014 | — | — | ## Technology | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.3% | 2017 | — | — | | Researchers (per million) | 89 | 2017 | — | — | | Internet users | 21.9% | 2024 | 6.7% | 2019 | | Mobile subscriptions | 65 | 2024 | 47 | 2023 | | High-tech exports | 3.8% | 2023 | — | — | ## Geography | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 1,128,499 km² | 2023 | 631,930 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 14.9% | 2023 | 11.3% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 34.1% | 2023 | 44.9% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.1 | 2024 | — | — | | Renewable energy | 90.6% | 2021 | 32.4% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 5.9% | 2021 | 13.1% | 2015 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 10.4% | 2015 | | Mineral rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2015 | | Forest rents | 5.6% | 2021 | 2.6% | 2015 | | Electricity access | 55.4% | 2023 | 5.4% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Ethiopia | Observed | South Sudan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 0.7% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $922 M | 2024 | $2.0 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 138,000 | 2020 | 53,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/ETH.md and https://terralore.co/country/SDS.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 - Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · 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/ETH/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SDS/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Ethiopia and South Sudan compared", terralore.co/compare/eth-vs-sds, retrieved .