Key demographics
- Population
- 63.0M
- Density
- 50.8/km²
- HDI
- 0.741 (High)
- Gini index (2014)
- 63.0
- Life expectancy (2024)
- 66.3 yrs
- Fertility rate (2024)
- 2.21
- Urban population (2025)
- 63.8%
- Literacy rate (2024)
- 91.2%
- Labor force (2025)
- 60.6%
- Gender wage gap (2019)
- 9.5%
Population structure
- Dependency ratio
- 48.4%
- Profile
- Young
- Urban population (2025)
- 63.8%
- Birth rate (2024)
- 18.5 /1000
- Death rate (2024)
- 9.2 /1000
- Largest city (2025)
- 15.6%
- Fertility rate (2024)
- 2.21
- Infant mortality (2024)
- 24.2 /1000
- Slum population (2022)
- 24.2%
- Tourism (2020)
- 3.9M
Languages and culture
| Language | Native name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans |
| English | English |
| Southern Ndebele | isiNdebele |
| Northern Sotho | - |
| Southern Sotho | Sesotho |
| Swazi | SiSwati |
| Tswana | Setswana |
| Tsonga | Xitsonga |
| Venda | Tshivenḓa |
| Xhosa | isiXhosa |
| Zulu | isiZulu |
| Religion | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Christianity | 85.3% |
| Traditional faiths | 7.8% |
| No religion | 3.1% |
| Islam | 1.6% |
| Hinduism | 1.1% |
| Other | 1.1% |
| Ethnicity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Black | 81.4% |
| Coloured | 8.2% |
| White | 7.3% |
| Indian | 2.7% |
| Others | 0.4% |
- Demonym (male)
- South African
- Demonym (female)
- South African
- National anthem
- national anthem of South Africa
Healthcare
- Life expectancy (2024)
- 66.3 yrs
- HALE (2021)
- 52.8 yrs
- Health spending (2023)
- 8.9% of GDP
- Infant mortality (2024)
- 24.2/1000
- UHC index (2023)
- 74/100
- Hospital beds (2010)
- 2.3/1000
- Physicians (2022)
- 0.79/1000
- Nurses (2022)
- 6.39/1000
- Health spending per capita (2023)
- $537
- Out-of-pocket (2023)
- 6.7%
Education and technology
- Literacy rate (2024)
- 91.2%
- Education spending (2024)
- 6.0% of GDP
- Learning outcomes (2020)
- 343
- Internet users (2024)
- 78.4%
- Mobile subscriptions (2024)
- 179.3/100
- Broadband (2024)
- 5.4/100
- Secure servers (2024)
- 16,658/1M
Broadband connectivity
- Broadband per 100 (2024)
- 5.4
Geography and practical
- Area
- 1,221,037 km²
- Continent
- Africa
- Region
- Africa
- Subregion
- Southern Africa
- Landlocked
- No
- Driving side
- Left
- Timezones
- UTC+02:00
- Calling codes
- +27
- Postal code
- ####
- TLD
- .za
- Maps
- Google Maps · OpenStreetMap
National symbols
- Flag
- The flag of South Africa is composed of two equal horizontal bands of red and blue, with a yellow-edged black isosceles triangle superimposed on the hoist side of the field. This triangle has its base centered on the hoist end, spans about two-fifth the width and two-third the height of the field, and is enclosed on its sides by the arms of a white-edged green horizontally oriented Y-shaped band which extends along the boundary of the red and blue bands to the fly end of the field.
- National anthem
- national anthem of South Africa
- National holiday
- Day of Goodwill