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Norway vs South Africa

On research quality in 2022–now, South Africa ranks #34 in the world and Norway #35, of 192 countries. Norway stands higher in 12 of the 25 fields both publish in, South Africa in 13.

Norway

World rank, 2022–now
#35
#29 all time
Works, 2022–now
81k
fractional
Top-10% rate
23.8%
share of its work among the world’s most cited
Open access
47%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Public Administration, Research and Theory, Ocean Engineering.

South Africa

World rank, 2022–now
#34
#33 all time
Works, 2022–now
113k
fractional
Top-10% rate
21.5%
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, Public Administration.

Who leads in each field?

Norway stands higher in 12 of 25 fields, South Africa in 13. Each bar is that side’s standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Norway 1213 South Africa
  1. #61Agricultural and Biological Sciences#16
  2. #20Arts and Humanities#9
  3. #36Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#39
  4. #38Business, Management and Accounting#21
  5. #34Chemical Engineering#36
  6. #58Chemistry#31
  7. #37Computer Science#44
  8. #26Decision Sciences#38
  9. #40Dentistry#39
  10. #14Earth and Planetary Sciences#29
  11. #38Economics, Econometrics and Finance#17
  12. #35Energy#34
  13. #37Engineering#38
  14. #29Environmental Science#25
  15. #32Health Professions#37
  16. #36Immunology and Microbiology#27
  17. #44Materials Science#38
  18. #44Mathematics#37
  19. #31Medicine#40
  20. #30Neuroscience#45
  21. #21Nursing#26
  22. —Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#34
  23. #35Physics and Astronomy#42
  24. #23Psychology#33
  25. #18Social Sciences#13

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.

How has their output grown?

20k40kSouth Africa31k in 2025Norway20k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year. The latest, partial year is left off.

Which publishes more research, Norway or South Africa?

South Africa publishes 1.4× as much research as Norway in 2022–now (113k against 81k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Norway or South Africa?

23.8% of Norway's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 21.5% for South Africa.

Where does their research happen?

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