# United Kingdom and South Africa compared United Kingdom and South Africa side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 6 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/gbr-vs-zaf 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 - United Kingdom: 12 July 927 — The monarchs of Britain recognise Æthelstan as king of the English - South Africa: 31 May 1910 — Four colonies join to create the Union of South Africa ## Economy | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $3.69 T | 2024 | $401 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $53,246 | 2024 | $6,267 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 1.1% | 2024 | 0.5% | 2024 | | Inflation | 3.3% | 2024 | 4.4% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 62.8% | 2024 | 61.6% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 69 m | 2024 | 64 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 81.4 yrs | 2024 | 66.3 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 83.2% | 2024 | 63.7% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.6 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 79.6 | 2024 | 67.5 | 2024 | | Political stability | 70.3 | 2024 | 55.4 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 74.4 | 2024 | 46.9 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 78.7 | 2024 | 53.9 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 78.8 | 2024 | 57.3 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 78.4 | 2024 | 44.0 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 11.1% | 2024 | 8.9% | 2023 | | Physicians | 3.30 | 2023 | 0.79 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 4.7 | 2024 | 35.1 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 89.0% | 2024 | 76.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 99.8% | 2024 | 68.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Education spending | 5.9% | 2021 | 6.0% | 2024 | | Primary enrolment | 102.2% | 2023 | 101.8% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 112.1% | 2023 | 104.1% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 80.4% | 2023 | 23.5% | 2023 | | Adult literacy | — | — | 91.2% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 2.7% | 2023 | 0.6% | 2022 | | Researchers (per million) | 4,473 | 2017 | 444 | 2022 | | Internet users | 95.5% | 2024 | 78.4% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 122 | 2024 | 179 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 29.2% | 2024 | 5.7% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 241,930 km² | 2023 | 1,213,090 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 13.3% | 2023 | 14.0% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 70.3% | 2023 | 79.4% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 4.2 | 2024 | 6.9 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 12.2% | 2021 | 9.7% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.6% | 2021 | 7.3% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 3.8% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 87.7% | 2023 | | Iron ore | — | — | 66 Mt | 2025 | | Gold (mined) | — | — | 90 t | 2025 | | Phosphate rock | — | — | 2.2 Mt | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | United Kingdom | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 2.3% | 2024 | 0.7% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $82 B | 2024 | $2.8 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 153,000 | 2020 | 89,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/GBR.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF.md. ## Entangled histories (6 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1806: **Britain seizes the Cape** — British forces occupied the Cape Colony during the Napoleonic Wars, beginning lasting British rule confirmed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: South Africa (country, history and government); History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa) - 1 December 1834: **Abolition of slavery at the Cape** — Slavery was abolished across the British Empire, freeing enslaved people at the Cape and deepening Boer discontent that helped spark the Great Trek. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa; South Africa (country, history and government)) - from 1836: **The Great Trek** — Thousands of Voortrekkers left the Cape Colony for the interior, seeking independence from British rule and founding new Boer communities on lands occupied by African peoples. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: Origins of the Battle of Blood River 1838; South Africa (country, history and government)) - 1899–1902: **The South African War** — War between Britain and the Boer republics featured guerrilla campaigns and British concentration camps in which tens of thousands of Boer and Black civilians died. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: The South African War 1899–1902; South African War; Treaty of Vereeniging) - 31 May 1902: **Treaty of Vereeniging** — The peace signed at Pretoria ended the South African War, bringing the Transvaal and Orange Free State under British sovereignty with promises of eventual self-government. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: Treaty of Vereeniging; South African War) - 31 May 1910: **Union of South Africa** — The four British colonies were united into the self-governing Union of South Africa under the South Africa Act, a white-controlled state that excluded the Black majority from political power. (from the South Africa chronicle; sources: The Union of South Africa 1910; South Africa Act; South Africa (country, history and government)) ## 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 - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/GBR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "United Kingdom and South Africa compared", terralore.co/compare/gbr-vs-zaf, retrieved .