# Namibia and South Africa compared

Namibia and South Africa side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 7 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/nam-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

- Namibia: 21 March 1990 — Namibia becomes independent of South Africa
- South Africa: 31 May 1910 — Four colonies join to create the Union of South Africa

## Economy

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $13 B | 2024 | $401 B | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $4,413 | 2024 | $6,267 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 3.7% | 2024 | 0.5% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 4.2% | 2024 | 4.4% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 109.6% | 2024 | 61.6% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3.0 m | 2024 | 64 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 67.5 yrs | 2024 | 66.3 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 50.4% | 2024 | 63.7% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 3.2 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 62.7 | 2024 | 67.5 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 75.2 | 2024 | 55.4 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 53.3 | 2024 | 46.9 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 57.0 | 2024 | 53.9 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 62.6 | 2024 | 57.3 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 50.4 | 2024 | 44.0 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 9.5% | 2023 | 8.9% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 0.55 | 2022 | 0.79 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 39.5 | 2024 | 35.1 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 79.0% | 2024 | 76.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | — | — | 68.0% | 2024 |

## Education

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 87.6% | 2023 | 91.2% | 2024 |
| Education spending | 9.1% | 2024 | 6.0% | 2024 |
| Primary enrolment | 120.7% | 2024 | 101.8% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 82.0% | 2024 | 104.1% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 26.1% | 2022 | 23.5% | 2023 |

## Technology

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 0.6% | 2022 | 0.6% | 2022 |
| Researchers (per million) | 225 | 2022 | 444 | 2022 |
| Internet users | 64.9% | 2024 | 78.4% | 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 85 | 2024 | 179 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 0.1% | 2024 | 5.7% | 2024 |

## Geography

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 823,290 km² | 2023 | 1,213,090 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 7.8% | 2023 | 14.0% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 47.1% | 2023 | 79.4% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 1.2 | 2024 | 6.9 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 30.0% | 2021 | 9.7% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 4.0% | 2021 | 7.3% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 3.2% | 2021 | 3.8% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.9% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 56.7% | 2023 | 87.7% | 2023 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 66 Mt | 2025 |
| Gold (mined) | — | — | 90 t | 2025 |
| Phosphate rock | — | — | 2.2 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Namibia | Observed | South Africa | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 2.7% | 2024 | 0.7% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $362 M | 2024 | $2.8 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 16,000 | 2020 | 89,000 | 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/NAM.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF.md.

## Entangled histories (7 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.

- July 1915: **South Africa conquers the colony** — South African forces invaded German South West Africa during the First World War and forced the German garrison to surrender, beginning seventy-five years of South African rule. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Namibia (country, history and government); History of Namibia)
- 1920: **League of Nations mandate** — The League of Nations granted South Africa a mandate to administer the territory as a trust for its inhabitants; South Africa instead governed it as a near-province, settling white farmers and suppressing African political life. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Namibia (country, history and government); Namibia)
- 1946: **South Africa refuses UN trusteeship** — After the founding of the United Nations, South Africa refused to place the territory under UN trusteeship and sought to annex it, beginning a long international dispute over its status. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Namibia (country, history and government); Namibia)
- 26 August 1966: **Armed struggle begins at Omugulugwombashe** — SWAPO's military wing, PLAN, fought South African forces at Omugulugwombashe, marking the start of the armed liberation war and of South Africa's long Border War. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO); History of Namibia; South African Border War)
- 27 October 1966: **UN revokes the mandate** — The UN General Assembly terminated South Africa's mandate over the territory, declaring its continued administration illegal, and later renamed the territory Namibia in 1968. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Namibia (country, history and government); Namibia)
- 21 June 1971: **ICJ rules the occupation illegal** — The International Court of Justice held that South Africa's continued presence in Namibia was illegal and that it was obliged to withdraw its administration immediately. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (1971 Advisory Opinion); Namibia)
- 1 March 1994: **Reincorporation of Walvis Bay** — South Africa transferred the port enclave of Walvis Bay and the offshore islands to Namibia, completing the country's territory and giving it sovereignty over its only deep-water harbour. (from the Namibia chronicle; sources: Namibia; Namibia (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/NAM/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Namibia and South Africa compared", terralore.co/compare/nam-vs-zaf, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.