Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Compare · Countries

Namibia vs South Africa

On research quality in 2022-now, South Africa ranks #29 in the world and Namibia #93, of 189 countries. Namibia stands higher in 0 of the 25 fields both publish in, South Africa in 25.

Research profiles alike: 0.88very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

Compare other countries
vs

Namibia

World rank, 2022-now
#93
#111 all time
Works, 2022-now
2.3k
fractional
Top-10% rate
6.2%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
57%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Research and Theory, Archeology, Library and Information Sciences.

South Africa

World rank, 2022-now
#29
#31 all time
Works, 2022-now
113k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
49%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Archeology, Religious studies, Research and Theory.

Who leads, measure by measure?

South Africa leads on 5 of 9 measures: research quality, citation excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate and citations per work. Namibia leads on 3 of 9 measures: open access, international co-authorship and growth. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Namibia 31 level5 South Africa
  1. #93Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#29
  2. 0.93×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.06×
  3. 2.3kOutputfractional works, 2022-now113k
  4. 6.2%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited10.6%
  5. 9.1Citations per workall time, per fractional work16.2
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 57%Open accessof its works free to read, all time49%
  8. 38%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time22%
  9. +43%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+17%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Namibia stands higher in 0 of 25 fields, South Africa in 25. South Africa leads most in Environmental Science (#29 against #95). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Namibia 025 South Africa
  1. -Agricultural and Biological Sciences#28
  2. -Arts and Humanities#20
  3. -Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#31
  4. -Business, Management and Accounting#29
  5. -Chemical Engineering#32
  6. -Chemistry#38
  7. #81Computer Science#32
  8. -Decision Sciences#26
  9. -Dentistry#39
  10. -Earth and Planetary Sciences#28
  11. -Economics, Econometrics and Finance#22
  12. -Energy#43
  13. -Engineering#36
  14. #95Environmental Science#29
  15. -Health Professions#29
  16. -Immunology and Microbiology#24
  17. -Materials Science#32
  18. -Mathematics#28
  19. #95Medicine#23
  20. -Neuroscience#37
  21. -Nursing#34
  22. -Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#24
  23. -Physics and Astronomy#33
  24. -Psychology#24
  25. #93Social Sciences#22

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Namibia rankSouth Africa rank Namibia top 10%South Africa top 10% Namibia worksSouth Africa works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences - #28 - 12.1% - 6.9k
Arts and Humanities - #20 - 15.9% - 4.3k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology - #31 - 9.4% - 3.7k
Business, Management and Accounting - #29 - 9.4% - 6.3k
Chemical Engineering - #32 - 7.1% - 301
Chemistry - #38 - 10.4% - 1.4k
Computer Science #81 #32 4.4% 10.9% 210 5.6k
Decision Sciences - #26 - 9.6% - 1.8k
Dentistry - #39 - 8.8% - 243
Earth and Planetary Sciences - #28 - 9.1% - 1.5k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance - #22 - 12.1% - 4.3k
Energy - #43 - 10.4% - 1.2k
Engineering - #36 - 8.6% - 11k
Environmental Science #95 #29 6.0% 9.2% 208 7.9k
Health Professions - #29 - 10.6% - 4.3k
Immunology and Microbiology - #24 - 11.1% - 978
Materials Science - #32 - 9.1% - 2.7k
Mathematics - #28 - 11.5% - 1.3k
Medicine #95 #23 6.8% 10.2% 240 15k
Neuroscience - #37 - 9.2% - 690
Nursing - #34 - 11.2% - 783
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics - #24 - 11.6% - 307
Physics and Astronomy - #33 - 9.4% - 1.7k
Psychology - #24 - 9.1% - 4.6k
Social Sciences #93 #22 6.1% 11.7% 482 24k

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Namibia

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change142▲ 1.98×86 topics
  2. Sustainability137▲ 2.1×77 topics
  3. Machine Learning109▲ 1.25×64 topics
  4. Globalization101▲ 1.96×83 topics
  5. Deep Learning88◆ 0.97×63 topics
  6. Artificial Intelligence71▲ 1.89×38 topics
  7. Education66▲ 1.47×58 topics
  8. Higher Education65▲ 4.6×23 topics
  9. Sustainable Development65▲ 1.57×59 topics
  10. Renewable Energy62▲ 1.62×36 topics
  11. Mental Health60▲ 1.60×35 topics
  12. Healthcare59▲ 1.97×21 topics
  13. Internet of Things59▲ 2.6×22 topics
  14. Big Data58▲ 2.3×22 topics
  15. Educational Technology56▲ 1.80×29 topics
  16. Social Capital54▲ 4.0×17 topics
  17. Supply Chain Management54▲ 2.3×17 topics
  18. Economic Development50▲ 2.4×23 topics
  19. Innovation50▲ 1.82×44 topics
  20. Technology Integration48▲ 5.8×12 topics
  21. Economic Growth47▲ 2.2×26 topics
  22. Biodiversity46▲ 2.3×30 topics
  23. Leadership42▲ 3.2×21 topics
  24. Colonialism40▲ 3.2×16 topics
  25. Population Dynamics40▲ 5.8×10 topics
  26. Job Satisfaction39▲ 3.4×14 topics
  27. Lifelong Learning39▲ 7.2×9 topics
  28. Rural Development37▲ 4.1×13 topics
  29. Habitat Selection33▲ 17×2 topics
  30. Community Health Workers33▲ 14×2 topics
  31. Cloud Computing32▲ 4.3×12 topics
  32. Poverty Reduction32▲ 9.2×6 topics
  33. Trophic Cascades31▲ 13×2 topics
  34. Multilingualism31▲ 7.3×4 topics
  35. Student Perceptions28▲ 5.9×7 topics
  36. Animal Movement27▲ 20×1 topic
  37. Bilingual Education27▲ 8.9×3 topics
  38. Language Policy27▲ 7.4×3 topics
  39. Occupancy Rates27▲ 20×1 topic
  40. Gender Inequality24▲ 6.6×6 topics

South Africa

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change4,986▲ 1.43×130 topics
  2. Sustainability4,915▲ 1.56×137 topics
  3. Epidemiology4,800◆ 0.94×140 topics
  4. Globalization4,533▲ 1.79×177 topics
  5. Machine Learning3,278▼ 0.77×97 topics
  6. Human Rights3,247▲ 2.5×88 topics
  7. Mental Health3,037▲ 1.65×48 topics
  8. Environmental Impact2,887▲ 1.32×72 topics
  9. Higher Education2,704▲ 4.0×34 topics
  10. Renewable Energy2,666▲ 1.43×61 topics
  11. Colonialism2,633▲ 4.3×49 topics
  12. Education2,535◆ 1.15×152 topics
  13. Sustainable Development2,520▲ 1.25×110 topics
  14. Economic Growth2,417▲ 2.3×37 topics
  15. Social Justice2,223▲ 2.9×53 topics
  16. Social Capital1,916▲ 2.9×21 topics
  17. South Africa1,591▲ 45×4 topics
  18. Nationalism1,540▲ 2.7×32 topics
  19. Development1,506▲ 3.3×23 topics
  20. Inequality1,451▲ 5.0×18 topics
  21. Antiretroviral Therapy1,327▲ 6.3×6 topics
  22. Environmental Governance1,301▲ 15×6 topics
  23. Equality1,234▲ 16×8 topics
  24. Poverty Reduction1,202▲ 7.2×7 topics
  25. Public Participation1,188▲ 42×3 topics
  26. Race1,174▲ 7.6×19 topics
  27. Judicial Review1,166▲ 11×5 topics
  28. Gender-based Violence1,164▲ 16×3 topics
  29. Postcolonialism1,160▲ 6.3×18 topics
  30. Constitutionalism1,141▲ 10×5 topics
  31. Consumer Protection1,141▲ 21×4 topics
  32. Legal Research1,128▲ 7.3×3 topics
  33. Developmental Local Government1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  34. Socio-Economic Rights1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  35. Decolonization974▲ 9.3×8 topics
  36. Poverty Alleviation928▲ 7.6×3 topics
  37. economic empowerment910▲ 44×2 topics
  38. post-apartheid910▲ 91×1 topic
  39. protests910▲ 91×1 topic
  40. NGOs883▲ 7.4×5 topics

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

South Africa has out-published Namibia every year since 1980.

still counting20k40kSouth Africa31k in 2025Namibia606 in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting0.20%0.40%0.60%South Africa0.53% in 2025Namibia0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting5%10%15%South Africa10.9% in 2025Namibia6.5% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Namibia 02 level3 South Africa
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 0In the top 5002
  4. 0In the top 1,0004
  5. #51Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#31

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Namibia or South Africa?

South Africa publishes 49.1× as much research as Namibia in 2022-now (113k against 2.3k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Namibia or South Africa?

10.6% of South Africa's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 6.2% for Namibia.

Is Namibia or South Africa growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +43% against 2018-21 for Namibia, and +17% for South Africa.

Which has more open access research, Namibia or South Africa?

57% of Namibia's research is free to read, against 49% of South Africa's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Namibia or South Africa?

Namibia holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and South Africa 0; in the top 1,000 it is 0 against 4.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Namibia

  1. 1University of Namibia5.5% top 10% · 1.4k works
  2. 2Namibia University of Science and Technology7.0% top 10% · 641 works
  3. 3International University of Management6.6% top 10% · 111 works

South Africa

  1. 1University of Cape Town10.9% top 10% · 7.2k works
  2. 2Stellenbosch University9.8% top 10% · 7.9k works
  3. 3University of the Witwatersrand10.5% top 10% · 8.9k works
  4. 4University of Johannesburg12.9% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5University of Pretoria9.6% top 10% · 9k works
  6. 6University of South Africa10.9% top 10% · 9k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Namibia

  1. 1 Michael Sony #63,785 worldwide 6.2k citations · 191 works
  2. 2 Uchendu Eugene Chigbu #104,490 worldwide 2.1k citations · 87 works
  3. 3 Gillian Maggs‐Kölling #275,971 worldwide 2.7k citations · 102 works
  4. 4 Mary Seely #392,753 worldwide 5.9k citations · 164 works
  5. 5 Subhash S. Naik #540,111 worldwide 2k citations · 20 works

South Africa

  1. 1 Surajit Bag #6,981 worldwide 13k citations · 234 works
  2. 2 Christopher H. Trisos #8,500 worldwide 15k citations · 130 works
  3. 3 Osaretin Christabel Okonji #8,695 worldwide 39k citations · 121 works
  4. 4 Crick Lund #10,675 worldwide 34k citations · 524 works
  5. 5 Benn K. D. Sartorius #10,888 worldwide 208k citations · 402 works

Other comparisons

Compare any two