South Africa's population is 64.7M as of 2025 — the total resident population, all ages and both sexes. That places South Africa 24 of 217 countries with recent data. The world figure for the same period is 8.2B. In 1960 the figure was 16.4M — up 294% since then.
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Share of South Africa's population in broad age groups as of 2025. A young age structure raises crude birth rates even at moderate fertility; an older one raises crude death rates even when mortality risk at every age is falling.
UN World Population Prospects medium variant — a projection conditional on assumed fertility, mortality and migration paths, not a forecast of what will happen.
Have a correction, a better estimate, or additional data—at the global, national, regional, or city level? Help improve the data
Have a correction, a better estimate, or additional data—at the global, national, regional, or city level? Help improve the data
Have a correction, a better estimate, or additional data—at the global, national, regional, or city level? Help improve the data
Have a correction, a better estimate, or additional data—at the global, national, regional, or city level? Help improve the data
Latest available population for every country. Full population rankings →
Other countries in Africa — compare their population, or open the full country profile.
birthrate.io, "South Africa Population (2025)". https://birthrate.io/population/south-africa (accessed 25 August 2026). Underlying data: World Bank.
Please cite the original statistical agency for the underlying figures. Charts and tables on this page may be reused with attribution.
Figures are estimates from statistical agencies and may be revised. See methodology and data sources.
| 341.8M |
| 2025 |
| 4 | 🇮🇩Indonesia | 285.7M | 2025 |
| 5 | 🇵🇰Pakistan | 255.2M | 2025 |
| 6 | 🇳🇬Nigeria | 237.5M | 2025 |
| 7 | 🇧🇷Brazil | 212.8M | 2025 |
| 8 | 🇧🇩Bangladesh | 175.7M | 2025 |
| 9 | 🇷🇺Russian Federation | 143.5M | 2025 |
| 10 | 🇪🇹Ethiopia | 135.5M | 2025 |
| 11 | 🇲🇽Mexico | 131.9M | 2025 |
| 12 | 🇯🇵Japan | 123.4M | 2025 |
