South Africa Flag

South Africa

Capital:
Pretoria
Continent:
Africa
Largest Cities:
Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
Abbreviation:
ZAF

64.7M
Total Population
24
Population Rank
53.37
Density (km²)
740.1K 1.34%
Annual Population Growth

Population of South Africa

South Africa's population structure shows a somewhat lower male to female ratio of 0.95 to 1, with a median male age of 28.57 years old and a median female age of 30.35 years old. The highest concentration of adults under 75 years old is in the 32 and 31 year-old age groups, while the lowest concentration is in the 74 and 73 year-old age groups.

South Africa Population

Data after 2022 is projected based on recent change

South Africa Population Clock

South Africa Population*
64,474,640
Births per Day
3,219
Deaths per Day
1,644
Immigrations per Day
401
Net Change per Day
1,976
2025 Population Change*
84,968

* As of 2/12/2025

1 birth

Every 26.8 seconds

1 death

Every 52.6 seconds

1 immigrant

Every 3.6 minutes

1 person

Every 43.7 seconds

Population by City

City
2025 Pop.
Cape Town3,433,441
Durban3,120,282
Johannesburg2,026,469
Soweto1,695,047
Pretoria1,619,438
Port Elizabeth967,677
Pietermaritzburg750,845
Benoni605,344
Tembisa511,655
East London478,676

South Africa Overview

The last national census of the South African population was carried out in 2011.

South Africa Demographics

Turning to demographics, the bureau in charge of providing statistics provided an estimate in 2010, which included five racial groups. Of the total South African population at the time, 79.4 percent declared themselves to be Black African while 9.2 percent were shown as White, 8.8 percent colored and 2.6 percent Indian or Asian. There was a final category shown as unspecified / other but the results were negligible and as such were ultimately omitted.

The country uses 11 official languages, including Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Swati, Tshivenda, and Ndebele.

South Africa Religion, Economy and Politics

In terms of religions across the population, 81.2% of South Africans identify with a Christian based faith, 3.7% identify with other faiths, and 15% are not affiliated with any faith in particular.

The median age across the population is approximately 27.1 years of age.

Accessible and safe drinking water is a concern for 6.8% of the population, while 93.2% of the entire population have improved access to drinking water. In terms of access to sanitation facilities, the numbers shift quite a bit though. Only 66.4% of the population have access, while 33.6% still struggle with this facet of life.

18.8% of the population is estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, with approximately 7 million individuals affected.Roughly 94.4% of the population is determined to be literate by age 15 and the country spends about 5.9% of its GDP on education.

South Africa Population History

Humans are thought to have inhabited the land of South Africa for more than 100,000 years, but the population records don’t reflect quite that far back. The first inhabitants were the Koisan people and the country was entirely African until Europeans began colonizing throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The Dutch further colonized the territory during the 1700s.

Voortrekkers settled several Boer regions following the Invasion of the Cape Colony in 1795 and 1806. After the discovery of diamonds in the land in the 19th century, these people fought with the British Empire for the right to control the mines. The British were victorious and South Africa became a self-governing nation under their rule in the early 1900s.

From the years 1948-1994, South Africa was divided because of apartheid laws that segregated the indigenous people from the white minority. These tensions are still easing today.