Are you ready to immigrate but unsure of where to go? We have compared statistics from two of the most popular countries for South African emigrants; Australia and Canada.
Statistics published by NationMaster allows you to compare statistics of 164 countries and covers every conceivable element of life in that country, helping prospective migrants makes the best choice of country.
We looked at specific topics that are typically important to South Africans considering immigration.
Rankings are from high to low. More incidents means higher on ranking out of 164 countries
- 1. Crime levels
Australia reported 46.01 crimes per 100,000 citizens. Australia is ranked 69th out of 164 countries when it comes to crime in general while Canada did better with only 39.03 crimes per 100,000 and ranking 80th. For some perspective; the most crime ridden country, at no 1, is the Maldives (surprisingly) and the safest country is Malta with less than 5 crimes per 100,000 of the population.
- 2. Drugs
Only 0.5% of Australians use illicit drugs ranking Australia in 5th position. Canadians are doing better at 0.4%.
- 3. Murder rate
Every year 229 murders are committed in Australia and about 400 in Canada. At the top of the ranking is Brazil, shockingly with nearly 41,000 murders yearly.
- 4. Incidents of Terrorism
Australia is generally considered safe of terrorism threats but are also notoriously proactive when it comes to ensure the safety of their citizens. Australia ranks 63th and Canada is even safer ranking 73rd. At the top of the Global terrorism Rankings is Iraq followed closely Pakistan.
- 5. Police officers
Australia has an impressive 222.7 police officers per 100,000 of the population. Canada feels 191.4 police officers is enough for a country with such a low crime rate.
- 6. Rape rate
Rape is very uncommon in Canada with only 1.7 rapes per 100,000 of the population. Australis is higher at 28.6 per 100,000 but significantly lower than the 1,300 in South Africa…
- 7. Burglaries
From 2016 to 2017 an estimated 2.5% of Australian households experienced at least one break-in. In 2010, the most recent year of data available, Canada had 578 burglaries per 100,000 people. In South Africa there were an estimated 1,401,840 burglaries in 2017.
- 8. Prisoners
Australia holds only about 22,492 prisoners in total while Canada, with a higher general population has 35,519 prisoners. Top of the global list is the USA with more than 2 million prisoners. Finland has just over 2000 prisoners in total.
- 9. Cost of living
The Aussies have an average monthly disposable salary of US $3,780.69 while Canadians have a bit less at $2,773.50.
But the Aussies need a bit more cash as property is at least 36% more expensive than in Canada. In Oz you’d pay an average of US $2,778.30 per month for a 3-bedroom city centre apartment. In Canada you are likely to spend a bit less at US $1592.39.
- 10. Literacy and Education
In both Australia and Canada more than 99% of the population is literate. The teacher pupil ration is about the same in both countries of less than 18 pupils per teacher and as such 92,2% of Australians have a high school education and Canada can brag with 100%!
- 11. Economy
The Australian Federal Budget sits at over US $513 billion annually. Canada’s expenditure budget was more than US $ 355 billion for the past financial year.
The Australian GDP is US $1.52 trillion and Canada’s US $1.82 trillion.
- 12. The life of citizens
Unemployment rates are exceptionally low in both countries. Australia has only 5.2% of its citizens receiving social assistance with 7.3% of Canadians not working – in both cases it is often stay at home parents and students.
The Aussies are taxed rather harshly with the top income bracket taxed 45%. Canadians are better off at a maximum of 29% tax on top bracket earnings.
Both Aussie and Canadian moms wait till their late 20s – early 30’s to have their first babies. Their motivation is that they are financially more stable, have travelled and their careers are on track.
Australia has a population of around 27 million and Canada just over 30 million – both countries are within the top 5 in terms of land mass.
Just over 15% of Australians and Canadians are children between 0 – 14 years.
Source: NationMaster