Which has higher life expectancy, Afghanistan or South Africa?

South Africa, at 66.14 years against 66.03 years in Afghanistan as of 2023.

What is the difference in life expectancy between Afghanistan and South Africa?

0.11 years, with South Africa ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and South Africa?

74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Afghanistan vs South Africa: Life expectancy

Afghanistan

66.03 years

in 2023

South Africa

66.14 years

in 2023

Afghanistan rank

203rd

South Africa rank

201st

Life expectancy over time

Afghanistan
South Africa

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 66.14 years against 66.03 years in Afghanistan, a difference of 0.11 years.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was South Africa ahead.

Afghanistan ranks 203rd and South Africa ranks 201st of 236 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 1 and South Africa in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Afghanistan	South Africa	Difference	Ahead
1950s	30.16 years	47.6 years	17.44 years	South Africa
1960s	34.9 years	54.21 years	19.31 years	South Africa
1970s	39.28 years	57.44 years	18.17 years	South Africa
1980s	37.98 years	61.78 years	23.8 years	South Africa
1990s	50.44 years	61.58 years	11.14 years	South Africa
2000s	57.74 years	55.58 years	2.16 years	Afghanistan
2010s	62.08 years	63.28 years	1.2 years	South Africa
2020s	63.38 years	64.69 years	1.31 years	South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Afghanistan or South Africa?: South Africa, at 66.14 years against 66.03 years in Afghanistan as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Afghanistan and South Africa?: 0.11 years, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and South Africa?: 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
How do Afghanistan and South Africa rank globally for life expectancy?: Afghanistan ranks 203rd and South Africa ranks 201st of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Afghanistan vs South Africa: Life expectancy. Statizoid, drawing on Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/compare/life-expectancy/afghanistan/south-africa/

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<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/compare/life-expectancy/afghanistan/south-africa/">Afghanistan vs South Africa: Life expectancy</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 27 August 2026

Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.