South Africa vs Paraguay

South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Upper middle income
Capital: Pretoria
Population
64M
GDP
$401.1B
Paraguay
Latin America & Caribbean
Upper middle income
Capital: Asuncion
Population
6.9M
GDP
$44.7B

POP 9.2x GDP 9.0x LE 7.7 yrs same-band UMC

Widest indicator spreads · South Africa vs Paraguay

Net Migration107.5%Freshwater Withdrawal95.6%Population89.2%GDP (Current USD)88.8%GDP Growth Rate88.5%Poverty (< $2.15/day)87.9%Intentional Homicides84.5%Renewable Energy Consump…83.5%
WIDE pair: the board is the Net Migration gap first (South Africa UMC vs Paraguay UMC).

Demographics: Population (South Africa, 89% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Population 64M 6.9M 2024
Population Density 52.1 17.3 2023

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

Economy: GDP (Current USD) (South Africa, 89% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
GDP (Current USD) $401.1B $44.7B 2024
GDP Growth Rate 0.5% 4.7% 2024
Unemployment Rate 32.3% 5.7% 2024
Foreign Direct Investment $2.3B $1.1B 2024

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

Health: Physicians (per 1,000 people) (Paraguay, 80% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Physicians (per 1,000 people) 0.8 3.9 2022
Stunting Prevalence (under 5) 21.3% 5.6% 2017
Under-5 Mortality Rate 35.1 16.3 2024
Maternal Mortality Ratio 118 58 2023

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

Education: Education Expenditure (% of GDP) (South Africa, 41% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 6.0% 3.5% 2024
School Enrollment (Tertiary) 23.5% 37.6% 2023
School Enrollment (Secondary) 104.1% 79.1% 2023

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

Environment: Freshwater Withdrawal (South Africa, 96% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Freshwater Withdrawal 47.1% 2.1% 2022
Renewable Energy Consumption 9.7% 58.8% 2021
CO2 Emissions Per Capita 6.9 1.2 2024
Forest Area 14.0% 38.5% 2023

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

Infrastructure: Mobile Subscriptions (South Africa, 29% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Mobile Subscriptions 179.3 126.6 2024
Access to Sanitation 73.8% 58.5% 2024

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

Social: Net Migration (South Africa, 107% spread)

Indicator South Africa Paraguay Year
Net Migration 167K -12,451 2024
Poverty (< $2.15/day) 17.4% 2.1% 2022
Intentional Homicides 43.7 6.8 2022
Male Labor Participation 61.8% 81.7% 2024

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

How to read this South Africa vs Paraguay comparison

South Africa (UMC, Sub-Saharan Africa) vs Paraguay (UMC, Latin America & Caribbean) is a WIDE WDI pair: population is 9.2x larger (64M vs 6.9M) and total GDP is 9.0x larger ($401.1B vs $44.7B). The gap board leads on Net Migration (~107% relative spread) across 47 indicators in 8 topics. Same income tier; rate and stock gaps are the sharper policy read. 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.

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