Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Croatia 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 Croatia, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2020.

live 11.9 years longer

In South Africa, the average life expectancy is 65 years (64 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2022. In Croatia, that number is 77 years (74 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022.

be 13.8% less likely to be obese

In South Africa, 28.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Croatia, that number is 24.4% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 2.5 times more money

South Africa has a GDP per capita of $13,500 as of 2022, while in Croatia, the GDP per capita is $34,300 as of 2022.

be 75.9% less likely to be unemployed

In South Africa, 28.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Croatia, that number is 7.0% as of 2022.

Life

be 96.1% less likely to die during childbirth

In South Africa, approximately 127.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Croatia, 5.0 women do as of 2020.

be 66.2% 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 Croatia, on the other hand, 8.7 children do as of 2022.

have 52.0% fewer children

In South Africa, there are approximately 17.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Croatia, there are 8.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 12.0% more likely to have access to electricity

In South Africa, approximately 89% of the population has electricity access as of 2021. In Croatia, 100% of the population do as of 2021.

be 12.5% more likely to have internet access

In South Africa, approximately 72.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Croatia, about 81.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 16.7% less on education

South Africa spends 6.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Croatia spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 2.1 times more coastline

South Africa has a total of 2,798 km of coastline. In Croatia, that number is 5,835 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Croatia: At a glance

Croatia is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 55,974 sq km. The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013.
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How big is Croatia compared to South Africa? See an in-depth size comparison.

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