# Saudi Arabia and South Africa compared Saudi Arabia and South Africa side by side: 43 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/sau-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 - Saudi Arabia: 1744 — The Diriyah pact founds the First Saudi State - South Africa: 31 May 1910 — Four colonies join to create the Union of South Africa ## Economy | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $1.24 T | 2024 | $401 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $35,122 | 2024 | $6,267 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 2.0% | 2024 | 0.5% | 2024 | | Inflation | 1.7% | 2024 | 4.4% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 54.7% | 2024 | 61.6% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 35 m | 2024 | 64 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 79.0 yrs | 2024 | 66.3 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 84.5% | 2024 | 63.7% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 2.3 | 2024 | 2.2 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 29.8 | 2024 | 67.5 | 2024 | | Political stability | 65.1 | 2024 | 55.4 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 66.6 | 2024 | 46.9 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 66.1 | 2024 | 53.9 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 60.6 | 2024 | 57.3 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 63.1 | 2024 | 44.0 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 5.7% | 2023 | 8.9% | 2023 | | Physicians | 3.41 | 2023 | 0.79 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 6.0 | 2024 | 35.1 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | 76.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | — | — | 68.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 97.9% | 2024 | 91.2% | 2024 | | Education spending | 4.5% | 2023 | 6.0% | 2024 | | Primary enrolment | 104.0% | 2024 | 101.8% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 110.7% | 2024 | 104.1% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 83.9% | 2024 | 23.5% | 2023 | ## Technology | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.6% | 2024 | 0.6% | 2022 | | Researchers (per million) | 1,235 | 2024 | 444 | 2022 | | Internet users | 100.0% | 2024 | 78.4% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 160 | 2024 | 179 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 0.5% | 2024 | 5.7% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 2,149,690 km² | 2023 | 1,213,090 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 0.5% | 2023 | 14.0% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 80.8% | 2023 | 79.4% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 18.5 | 2024 | 6.9 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 0.1% | 2021 | 9.7% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 25.6% | 2021 | 7.3% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 23.7% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.2% | 2021 | 3.8% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 87.7% | 2023 | | Bauxite | 5.7 Mt | 2025 | — | — | | Phosphate rock | 10 Mt | 2025 | 2.2 Mt | 2025 | | Iron ore | — | — | 66 Mt | 2025 | | Gold (mined) | — | — | 90 t | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | Saudi Arabia | Observed | South Africa | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 7.3% | 2024 | 0.7% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $80 B | 2024 | $2.8 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 282,000 | 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/SAU.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF.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 - 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 - 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/SAU/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/ZAF/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Saudi Arabia and South Africa compared", terralore.co/compare/sau-vs-zaf, retrieved .