Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Japan 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 Japan, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2020.
live 19.5 years longer
In South Africa, the average life expectancy is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022. In Japan, that number is 85 years (82 years for men, 88 years for women) as of 2022.
be 84.8% less likely to be obese
In South Africa, 28.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Japan, that number is 4.3% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 3.6 times more money
South Africa has a GDP per capita of $11,500 as of 2020, while in Japan, the GDP per capita is $41,400 as of 2019.
be 91.7% less likely to be unemployed
In South Africa, 28.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In Japan, that number is 2.4% as of 2019.
pay a 24.3% higher top tax rate
South Africa has a top tax rate of 45.0% as of 2017. In Japan, the top tax rate is 56.0% as of 2016.
Life
be 95.8% less likely to die during childbirth
In South Africa, approximately 119.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Japan, 5.0 women do as of 2017.
be 92.7% 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 Japan, on the other hand, 1.9 children do as of 2022.
have 62.6% fewer children
In South Africa, there are approximately 18.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Japan, there are 7.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Basic Needs
be 28.6% more likely to have internet access
In South Africa, approximately 70.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Japan, about 90.0% do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 52.9% less on education
South Africa spends 6.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Japan spends 3.2% of total GDP on education as of 2017.
spend 17.6% more on healthcare
South Africa spends 9.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Japan, that number is 10.7% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 10.6 times more coastline
South Africa has a total of 2,798 km of coastline. In Japan, that number is 29,751 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, South African Revenue Service, National Tax Agency Japan.
Japan: At a glance
How big is Japan compared to South Africa? See an in-depth size comparison.