Papua New Guinea vs South Africa: Life expectancy
Papua New Guinea
66.13 years
in 2023
South Africa
66.14 years
in 2023
Papua New Guinea rank
202nd
South Africa rank
201st
Life expectancy over time
- Papua New Guinea
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 66.14 years against 66.13 years in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 0.01 years.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was South Africa ahead.
Papua New Guinea ranks 202nd and South Africa ranks 201st of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Papua New Guinea averaged higher in 3 and South Africa in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Papua New Guinea | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 41.83 years | 47.6 years | 5.77 years | South Africa |
| 1960s | 48.61 years | 54.21 years | 5.6 years | South Africa |
| 1970s | 54.63 years | 57.44 years | 2.81 years | South Africa |
| 1980s | 58.61 years | 61.78 years | 3.17 years | South Africa |
| 1990s | 60.64 years | 61.58 years | 0.9394 years | South Africa |
| 2000s | 61.98 years | 55.58 years | 6.4 years | Papua New Guinea |
| 2010s | 64.27 years | 63.28 years | 0.9921 years | Papua New Guinea |
| 2020s | 65.21 years | 64.69 years | 0.522 years | Papua New Guinea |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher life expectancy, Papua New Guinea or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 66.14 years against 66.13 years in Papua New Guinea as of 2023.
- What is the difference in life expectancy between Papua New Guinea and South Africa?
- 0.01 years, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Papua New Guinea and South Africa?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do Papua New Guinea and South Africa rank globally for life expectancy?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 202nd 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) β 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.
Individual pages
About this data
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.