Eswatini vs South Africa

Eswatini
Sub-Saharan Africa
Lower middle income
Capital: Mbabane
Population
1.2M
GDP
$4.9B
South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Upper middle income
Capital: Pretoria
Population
64M
GDP
$401.1B

POP 51.5x GDP 82.6x LE 2.0 yrs LMC↔UMC

Widest indicator spreads · Eswatini vs South Africa

Net Migration104%GDP (Current USD)98.8%Population98.1%Foreign Direct Investment96.8%CO2 Emissions Per Capita87.2%Renewable Energy Consump…85%GDP Growth Rate82.4%School Enrollment (Terti…72.6%
WIDE pair: the board is the Net Migration gap first (Eswatini LMC vs South Africa UMC).

Demographics: Population (South Africa, 98% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
Population 1.2M 64M 2024
Urban Population 26.2% 63.7% 2024
Population Ages 65+ 4.3% 6.7% 2024
Population Density 71.5 52.1 2023

3 closer demographics rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Economy: GDP (Current USD) (South Africa, 99% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
GDP (Current USD) $4.9B $401.1B 2024
Foreign Direct Investment $75.5M $2.3B 2024
GDP Growth Rate 3.0% 0.5% 2024
Government Debt (% of GDP) 35.7% 82.8% 2021

5 closer economy rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Health: Infant Mortality Rate (South Africa, 43% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
Infant Mortality Rate 42.2 24.2 2024
Physicians (per 1,000 people) 0.6 0.8 2023
Under-5 Mortality Rate 45.1 35.1 2024
Health Expenditure (% of GDP) 7.5% 8.9% 2023

3 closer health rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Education: School Enrollment (Tertiary) (South Africa, 73% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
School Enrollment (Tertiary) 6.4% 23.5% 2013
School Enrollment (Secondary) 82.0% 104.1% 2016

4 closer education rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Environment: CO2 Emissions Per Capita (Eswatini, 87% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
CO2 Emissions Per Capita 0.9 6.9 2024
Renewable Energy Consumption 64.7% 9.7% 2022
Electric Power Consumption 1,200 3,247 2023
Forest Area 29.1% 14.0% 2023

1 closer environment rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Infrastructure: Access to Clean Water (South Africa, 44% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
Access to Clean Water 38.2% 68.0% 2024
Mobile Subscriptions 139.8 179.3 2024
Internet Users 63.4% 78.4% 2024
Access to Sanitation 60.8% 73.8% 2024

1 closer infrastructure rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Social: Net Migration (South Africa, 104% spread)

Indicator Eswatini South Africa Year
Net Migration -6,754 167K 2024
Intentional Homicides 12.5 43.7 2021
Poverty (< $2.15/day) 44.5% 17.4% 2016

3 closer social rows sit on the Eswatini and South Africa profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

How to read this Eswatini vs South Africa comparison

Eswatini (LMC, Sub-Saharan Africa) vs South Africa (UMC, Sub-Saharan Africa) is a WIDE WDI pair: population is 51.5x smaller (1.2M vs 64M) and total GDP is 82.6x smaller ($4.9B vs $401.1B). The gap board leads on Net Migration (~104% relative spread) across 47 indicators in 8 topics. Cross-tier pair; prefer per-capita and rate columns over raw totals. Figures may come from different reporting years; dollar values move with exchange rates; national averages conceal inequality. See our methodology.

Other curated pairs · WIDE band

Indexable comparisons only (Module 42). Full picker with every country lives on /compare, not duplicated under every pair.

Eswatini vs South Africa figures: World Bank Open Data and health rows: WHO Global Health Observatory. CC BY 4.0 · LMC↔UMC · WIDE scale band.