Where is it better to live in South Africa or in South Korea?
To answer the question - which country - South Africa or South Korea, is more comfortable for living, let’s compare different constituents which make the standard of living:
Would you like to contrast other countries? Fill them in the proper gaps and choose the criteria for comparison:
Perhaps, it’s difficult to argue that it’s better to live in a rich country than in a poor one. As of 2024 year data, the basic indicator of the economic development - GDP by purchasing power parity per capita - was:
● In South Africa - 15,3 thousand dollars,
● In South Korea - 62,8 thousand dollars.
Thus, according to the gross production per one person, South Korea leaves South Africa behind by %.
Let’s compare the data about minimum and average labor level pay in both countries.
● The minimum wage in South Africa set at 23.19 rand per hour, 4,000 rand per month (1.6 and US$ 275, respectively);
● The minimum wage in South Korea set at 9,860 South Korean won per hour (equivalent to US$ 1,360 per month for a five-day week).
The average gross salary (before the taxes and other mandatory fees) is:
● in South Africa - 32 thousand rand (about 1700 US$);
● in South Korea - 4,150,000 South Korean won (about 3100 US$).
Where are the prices lower? up↑
The average GDP gap per capita is narrowed down by the difference in cost of living. According to the statistics of the data base Numbeo, at the beginning of 2025 year, South Africa is a cheaper country.
The price level in South Africa for basic goods and services (including food, consumer goods, transport, mobile connection and utility bills) is on average % lower than in South Korea. In other words, at the current exchange rate 1000 dollars in South Korea will have the same purchasing power as dollars in South Africa.
Where is the crime rate lower? up↑
One can evaluate the general level of criminal situation with the help of “crime rate”. This indicator is calculated by the portal Numbeo, which specializes in rating scores of different life aspects in all the world regions and shows how safe it is to live in the country from a risk of becoming a victim of lawbreakers (the higher the crime rate is, the higher the risk is). As of 2025 year, the crime rate is:
● in South Africa - 74.7;
● in South Korea - 24.9
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To estimate the population law-abidingness and law enforcement activity, let’s pay attention to the statics of premeditated murders and to the data about the number of South Africans and South Koreans, being imprisoned.
Yearly out of 100 thousand people, murders kill:
● in South Africa - 33.96 people;
● in South Korea - 0.53 people
***As of 2023 year, in prisons and criminal camps the number of inmates is:
● in South Africa - 140.9 thousand, or 235 prisoners per 100,000 people;
● in South Korea - 53.9 thousand, or 105 prisoners per 100,000 people
So, if we consider the risks connected with the crimes, the safer country is definitely South Korea.
Where do people get sick less and live longer? up↑
The life quality is greatly defined by how long the people live. According to the latest data, the life expectancy is:
● in South Africa - 65.3 years (62.2 years among men and 68.3 years among women)
● in South Korea - 83.3 years (80.3 years among men and 86.1 years among women)
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To get an idea about the nation’s health and the system of health care, one should look at the spread of dangerous diseases in the country. Let’s compare where people often suffer from such diseases as HIV-infections, tuberculosis and cancer.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), the spread of HIV-infections is:
● in South Africa - 7600000 of the infected (12.58% of population)
● in South Korea - 18700 of the infected (0.04% of population)
The number of people infected by tuberculosis is:
● in South Africa - 360000 people (615 per 100,000 people);
● in South Korea - 30000 people (59 per 100,000 people)
The cancer situation is the following:
● in South Africa per 100 000 people yearly one finds 209.5 new cases of the disease and registers 111.7 lethal cases;
● in South Korea per 100k people every year one fixes 242.7 of newly infected people and 75.5 lethal cases from cancer.
We should not judge about the quality of medicine only by the number of cancer cases, we should look at the ratio between the number of new cases and the number of cancer deaths (the lower it is, the higher the rate of the cured ones is; consequently, the better the health care system works). In the countries under consideration, we see the following ratio between the newly-infected and the dead:
● in South Africa - ;
● in South Korea -
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We can estimate the effectiveness of the health care systems of South Africa and South Korea on the base of the health care quality index which is estimated by Nubmbeo. The index comprehensively displays how bad or good it is in the country with medical services, taking into consideration hospital facilities, medicines, staff professionalism and treatment availability in terms of cost. As of 2025 year, the index is:
● in South Africa - 63.8;
● in South Korea - 82.8
Where do people drink and smoke less? up↑
It’s considered that It’s more comfortable to live in that country where people are less exposed to bad habits. The following WHO data show that the situation with the alcohol consumption (pure alcohol) runs as this:
● in South Africa - 9.5 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 15.9 litres per every man and 3.5 litres per every woman);
● in South Korea - 9.7 liters per every person older 15 years old (about 14.7 litres per every man and 4.8 litres per every woman)
How noticeable are the differences in alcoholic beverages of the South Africans and the South Koreans?
● in South Africa, in terms of pure alcohol, beer accounts for 48.1% % of consumption, wine accounts for 17.8% of consumption, strong drinks (vodka and cognac, etc.) account for 16.7% of consumption, other drinks (including home-made ones) - 17.4% of consumption;
● in South Korea beer accounts for 25% from the total amount of alcohol consumption, wine accounts for 1.6%, strong drinks - 2.9%, all the rest (including braga, moonshine, etc. ) - 70.5%
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Addiction to smoking in the countries under consideration is seen like that:
● in South Africa there are 20,7 % of active smokers among the adults (34,9 % of adult males and 6,5 % of adult females smoke there);
● in South Korea 20 % of adult population smoke on a constant base (34,1 % of men and 5,8 % of women)
By unit tobacco consumption per capita the leader is South Korea - here on average every adult smokes 1667 cigarettes per year, against 510 cigarettes per capita in South Africa.
Where do people have more reasons to be satisfied with their lives? up↑
Perhaps, it’s very difficult to make up an indicator, with the help of which one can define how much the people of this or that country are satisfied by their lives. Nevertheless, there have been a couple of researches.
For example, the UN experts calculate a so-called "Rating of countries by the Happiness Index”, which helps to understand to what degree the states provide their citizens with the happy life. As of 2023 data, the happiest ones are South Koreans, their happiness index is 5.951, meanwhile in South Africa the happiness index is equal to 5.275.
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There is also an overall index, which is used by UNO - Human Development Index (HDI). This index considers various reasons why citizens feel comfortable. According to 2022 data, HDI in South Africa is 0.713; in South Korea - 0.925.
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To indirectly evaluate how much the people are satisfied with their lives, one can consider the number of suicides. It comes logically that the better the lives of the people are arranged, the fewer reasons for the suicides there are. In the countries under consideration, per 100 000 people there are:
● in South Africa - 23,5 suicides (37,9 among men and 9,8 among women) ;
● in South Korea - 21,2 suicides (29,7 among men and 13,4 among women)
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