Malaysia vs South Africa: State Capacity Index

Malaysia
0.8117
in 2015
South Africa
0.8833
in 2015
Malaysia rank
51st
South Africa rank
49th

State Capacity Index over time

  • Malaysia
  • South Africa
-0.500.511.5196019872015

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 0.8833 against 0.8117 in Malaysia, a difference of 0.0716.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times Malaysia's.

The two have swapped places 7 times across 56 shared years of data; in 1960 it was Malaysia ahead.

Malaysia ranks 51st and South Africa ranks 49th of 165 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, Malaysia averaged higher in 2 and South Africa in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Malaysia South Africa Difference Ahead
1960s -0.053 -0.2518 0.1988 Malaysia
1970s 0.3624 0.2556 0.1067 Malaysia
1980s 0.5545 0.6719 0.1173 South Africa
1990s 0.5615 1.09 0.5237 South Africa
2000s 0.6949 1.08 0.3874 South Africa
2010s 0.8561 0.9142 0.0581 South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher state capacity index, Malaysia or South Africa?
South Africa, at 0.8833 against 0.8117 in Malaysia as of 2015.
What is the difference in state capacity index between Malaysia and South Africa?
0.0716, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Malaysia and South Africa?
56 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2015.
How do Malaysia and South Africa rank globally for state capacity index?
Malaysia ranks 51st and South Africa ranks 49th of 165 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Jonathan Hanson and Rachel Sigman (2021); Population based on various sources (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as State Capacity Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
State Capacity Index
Source
Jonathan Hanson and Rachel Sigman (2021); Population based on various sources (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
166 places, 8,015 data points, 1960–2015
Last refreshed

Measures state capacity by combining 21 different indicators related to three key dimensions: extractive capacity, coercive capacity, and administrative capacity. Higher values indicate greater state capacity.