Myanmar vs South Africa: Population

Myanmar
54.13 million people
in 2023
South Africa
63.21 million people
in 2023
Myanmar rank
27th
South Africa rank
24th

Population over time

  • Myanmar
  • South Africa
020.0M40.0M60.0M100015112023

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 63.21 million people against 54.13 million people in Myanmar, a difference of 9.08 million people.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.2 times Myanmar's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Myanmar ahead.

Myanmar ranks 27th and South Africa ranks 24th of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Myanmar averaged higher in 35 and South Africa in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade Myanmar South Africa Difference Ahead
1000s 2.00 million people 258,000 people 1.74 million people Myanmar
1100s 2.50 million people 309,600 people 2.19 million people Myanmar
1200s 3.00 million people 361,200 people 2.64 million people Myanmar
1300s 2.90 million people 412,800 people 2.49 million people Myanmar
1400s 3.45 million people 464,400 people 2.99 million people Myanmar
1500s 4.00 million people 516,000 people 3.48 million people Myanmar
1600s 4.50 million people 602,000 people 3.90 million people Myanmar
1700s 5.00 million people 860,000 people 4.14 million people Myanmar
1710s 5.10 million people 843,752 people 4.26 million people Myanmar
1720s 5.20 million people 827,505 people 4.37 million people Myanmar
1730s 5.30 million people 811,258 people 4.49 million people Myanmar
1740s 5.40 million people 795,011 people 4.60 million people Myanmar
1750s 5.50 million people 778,764 people 4.72 million people Myanmar
1760s 5.60 million people 762,517 people 4.84 million people Myanmar
1770s 5.70 million people 746,270 people 4.95 million people Myanmar
1780s 5.80 million people 730,023 people 5.07 million people Myanmar
1790s 5.90 million people 713,776 people 5.19 million people Myanmar
1800s 5.33 million people 1.47 million people 3.86 million people Myanmar
1810s 4.08 million people 1.54 million people 2.55 million people Myanmar
1820s 3.58 million people 1.72 million people 1.85 million people Myanmar
1830s 3.71 million people 2.14 million people 1.57 million people Myanmar
1840s 3.85 million people 2.67 million people 1.18 million people Myanmar
1850s 3.98 million people 3.16 million people 820,748 people Myanmar
1860s 4.07 million people 3.52 million people 557,725 people Myanmar
1870s 3.88 million people 3.91 million people 34,401 people South Africa
1880s 5.01 million people 4.36 million people 648,334 people Myanmar
1890s 8.09 million people 4.85 million people 3.24 million people Myanmar
1900s 10.13 million people 5.56 million people 4.57 million people Myanmar
1910s 11.37 million people 6.56 million people 4.81 million people Myanmar
1920s 12.49 million people 7.86 million people 4.62 million people Myanmar
1930s 14.04 million people 9.64 million people 4.40 million people Myanmar
1940s 16.25 million people 11.72 million people 4.53 million people Myanmar
1950s 19.41 million people 14.43 million people 4.98 million people Myanmar
1960s 24.07 million people 18.89 million people 5.18 million people Myanmar
1970s 29.89 million people 25.38 million people 4.51 million people Myanmar
1980s 36.24 million people 34.50 million people 1.74 million people Myanmar
1990s 42.32 million people 44.05 million people 1.72 million people South Africa
2000s 47.14 million people 49.31 million people 2.17 million people South Africa
2010s 50.86 million people 55.92 million people 5.06 million people South Africa
2020s 53.57 million people 61.91 million people 8.34 million people South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Myanmar or South Africa?
South Africa, at 63.21 million people against 54.13 million people in Myanmar as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Myanmar and South Africa?
9.08 million people, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Myanmar and South Africa?
241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Myanmar and South Africa rank globally for population?
Myanmar ranks 27th and South Africa ranks 24th of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.