South Africa: population and ages

In mid-1950 there were 13 million people, so the population is now 5.0 times as large.

The UN projects 1.17 million births and 610,000 deaths in 2026, 558,000 more births than deaths.

More people move in than leave: net migration in 2026 is projected at plus 132,000.

The median age is 28.9, which is 2.2 years below the world’s 31.1.

26% of the people are under 15 and 7% are 65 or older (world: 24% and 11%).

The UN projects that people aged 65 and over will outnumber children under 15 from 2096.

Women have 2.2 children on average at today’s rates (world: 2.2), against 6.0 in 1950.

Life expectancy at birth is 66.7 years, below the world’s 73.8. In 1950 it was 43.1.

For mid-2050 the UN projects 79.2 million people, 21% more than now, with a median age of 32.3.

By the death rates of 2023, life expectancy at birth was 66.1 years. People who had reached 65 could expect 16.3 more years for women and 13.2 for men.

On 1 January 2026, there are 10.4 people aged 65 or more for every 100 aged 15 to 64. For 2050, the UN projects 16.5.

For 2100 the UN projects a population of 94.3 million, with a 95 percent prediction interval of 53.3 million to 159 million.

Life expectancy at birth is a period measure. It sums up the death rates of one year and is not a forecast of how long the babies born that year will live.

In mid-2024, 2.63 million international migrants lived here, 4.1% of the population.

In mid-2024, 1.01 million people from here lived in other countries.