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South Africa: Population
All residents regardless of legal status or citizenship, mid-year estimate.
Data status: CurrentThe latest figures we have collected are for 2025. 2026 is not overdue until March 27, 2028, a generous allowance for a annual series until we have timed this source’s releases.
Official statisticSource figures as of October 8, 2026Sources & methods
- Sources
- World Bank
- Period covered
- 1960 – 2025
- Source figures as of
- October 8, 2026
- Geography
- South Africa
- Sector
- Whole economy (not a single sector)
- Seasonal adjustment
- Not applicable
- Transformations
- Views other than the level (changes, averages, volatility) are calculated by CK Economics from these figures
- Revisions
- Replaced with the source’s latest figures whenever it revises them.
- Data status
- Current
Key figures
CK estimatePeople · calculated by CK Economics from World Bank data
- Latest · 2025
- 64,747,319
- +1.2% vs a year earlier1
- 5-year change
- +6.9%
- since 2020, +1.3% a year2
- 10-year change
- +14.1%
- since 2015, +1.3% a year2
- Record high
- 64,747,319
- 20253
- Record low
- 16,440,172
- 19603
- Where the latest ranks
- 100th pct.
- Higher than 100% of the other 65 observations since 19604
- 1Latest observation against the observation one year earlier (for weekly data, the nearest within three days).
- 2Latest observation against the observation five and ten years earlier; the yearly rate is the compound annual growth rate over the span.
- 3Highest and lowest published observations across the full history shown.
- 4Share of the other published observations that are lower than the latest one, rounded down.
Methodology
All residents regardless of legal status or citizenship, mid-year estimate. Compiled by the World Bank from national statistical offices and international agencies; some series (labour force participation) are ILO modelled estimates. Source series SP.POP.TOTL. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators (WDI 2026-10-08). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=ZAF
All data
| Period | Value | Change y/y |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 64,747,319 | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 64,007,187 | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 63,212,384 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 62,378,410 | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 61,502,603 | +1.6% |
| 2020 | 60,562,381 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 59,587,885 | +1.7% |
| 2018 | 58,613,001 | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 57,635,162 | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 57,259,551 | +0.9% |
| 2015 | 56,723,537 | +2.0% |
| 2014 | 55,594,838 | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 54,678,791 | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 53,782,567 | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 52,995,205 | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 52,344,051 | +1.2% |
| 2009 | 51,728,516 | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 51,114,599 | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 50,528,584 | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 49,998,277 | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 49,490,033 | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 48,991,421 | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 48,500,348 | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 48,019,415 | +1.0% |