Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iran instead of South Africa, you would:
Health
be 99.5% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In South Africa, 19.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Iran, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2020.
live 9.9 years longer
In South Africa, the average life expectancy is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022. In Iran, that number is 75 years (74 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
be 58.6% less likely to be unemployed
In South Africa, 28.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In Iran, that number is 11.8% as of 2017.
be 12.7% more likely to live below the poverty line
In South Africa, 16.6% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Iran, however, that number is 18.7% as of 2007.
Life
be 86.6% less likely to die during childbirth
In South Africa, approximately 119.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Iran, 16.0 women do as of 2017.
be 42.6% less likely to die during infancy
In South Africa, approximately 25.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Iran, on the other hand, 14.8 children do as of 2022.
be 10.0% less likely to be literate
In South Africa, the literacy rate is 95.0% as of 2019. In Iran, it is 85.5% as of 2016.
have 17.7% fewer children
In South Africa, there are approximately 18.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Iran, there are 15.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 20.0% more likely to have internet access
In South Africa, approximately 70.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Iran, about 84.0% do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 45.6% less on education
South Africa spends 6.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Iran spends 3.7% of total GDP on education as of 2019.
spend 26.4% less on healthcare
South Africa spends 9.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Iran, that number is 6.7% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 12.8% less coastline
South Africa has a total of 2,798 km of coastline. In Iran, that number is 2,440 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
Iran: At a glance
How big is Iran compared to South Africa? See an in-depth size comparison.