World population growth in South Africa
South Africa: World population growth was 0.2% in 2100. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2100)
0.2%
Change on year
up 3.1%
World rank
48th
of 239 countries
All-time high
3.5%
in 1983
All-time low
-0.4%
in 2016
Years of data
163
1700–2100
World population growth in South Africa, 1700–2100
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for world population growth in South Africa is 0.2%, measured in 2100.
The figure is up 3.1% on the previous year and down 8.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, world population growth in South Africa peaked at 3.5% in 1983 and was at its lowest, -0.4%, in 2016.
That places South Africa 48th out of 239 countries with data for 2100, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
World population growth in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 | 0.4% | — |
| 1800 | 0.1% | -80.4% |
| 1900 | 1.3% | +1793.9% |
| 1905 | 1.7% | +27.9% |
| 1910 | 1.7% | -2.2% |
| 1915 | 1.6% | -3.3% |
| 1920 | 1.8% | +9.7% |
| 1925 | 2.1% | +18.1% |
| 1930 | 2.0% | -1.6% |
| 1935 | 2.0% | -2.3% |
| 1940 | 2.0% | -2.0% |
| 1945 | 1.9% | -2.9% |
| 1950 | 2.0% | +5.5% |
| 1951 | 2.1% | +4.7% |
| 1952 | 2.2% | +2.8% |
| 1953 | 2.2% | +0.4% |
| 1954 | 2.3% | +4.1% |
| 1955 | 2.3% | +3.2% |
| 1956 | 2.4% | +2.7% |
| 1957 | 2.4% | +2.0% |
| 1958 | 2.4% | -0.7% |
| 1959 | 2.6% | +5.6% |
| 1960 | 2.7% | +4.5% |
| 1961 | 2.9% | +9.5% |
| 1962 | 3.0% | +2.9% |
| 1963 | 3.0% | +0.9% |
| 1964 | 3.1% | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 3.1% | +0.8% |
| 1966 | 3.1% | +0.8% |
| 1967 | 3.1% | +0.6% |
| 1968 | 3.1% | -0.8% |
| 1969 | 3.1% | -1.1% |
| 1970 | 3.0% | -2.6% |
| 1971 | 2.9% | -4.2% |
| 1972 | 2.9% | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 2.9% | -0.6% |
| 1974 | 2.8% | -2.2% |
| 1975 | 2.8% | -1.4% |
| 1976 | 2.7% | -3.3% |
| 1977 | 2.7% | +3.2% |
| 1978 | 2.7% | -1.2% |
| 1979 | 2.7% | -0.6% |
| 1980 | 3.4% | +25.1% |
| 1981 | 3.4% | +1.6% |
| 1982 | 3.5% | +1.5% |
| 1983 | 3.5% | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 3.4% | -2.3% |
| 1985 | 3.2% | -5.0% |
| 1986 | 3.1% | -3.2% |
| 1987 | 3.1% | -1.8% |
| 1988 | 3.0% | -2.8% |
| 1989 | 2.9% | -4.2% |
| 1990 | 2.7% | -6.6% |
| 1991 | 1.9% | -29.7% |
| 1992 | 1.7% | -9.9% |
| 1993 | 2.3% | +33.4% |
| 1994 | 1.0% | -57.0% |
| 1995 | 1.4% | +48.2% |
| 1996 | 1.1% | -20.7% |
| 1997 | 1.2% | +8.7% |
| 1998 | 1.2% | -5.6% |
| 1999 | 1.0% | -14.9% |
| 2000 | 0.8% | -17.5% |
| 2001 | 0.9% | +7.7% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | +12.5% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 1.0% | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 1.0% | -2.1% |
| 2006 | 1.0% | +4.0% |
| 2007 | 1.1% | +2.5% |
| 2008 | 1.2% | +15.8% |
| 2009 | 1.2% | -6.9% |
| 2010 | 1.2% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | +3.6% |
| 2012 | 1.7% | +34.2% |
| 2013 | 1.6% | -4.1% |
| 2014 | 1.7% | +5.3% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | +35.5% |
| 2016 | -0.4% | -118.0% |
| 2017 | 1.7% | -513.5% |
| 2018 | 1.6% | -3.9% |
| 2019 | 1.6% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 1.6% | -3.3% |
| 2021 | 1.5% | -6.8% |
| 2022 | 1.3% | -9.8% |
| 2023 | 1.3% | -2.0% |
| 2024 | 1.2% | -9.9% |
| 2025 | 1.1% | -5.9% |
| 2026 | 1.1% | -5.5% |
| 2027 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 2028 | 1.0% | -1.7% |
| 2029 | 1.0% | -3.4% |
| 2030 | 0.9% | -5.1% |
| 2031 | 0.9% | -2.0% |
| 2032 | 0.9% | -2.7% |
| 2033 | 0.9% | -3.5% |
| 2034 | 0.8% | -2.4% |
| 2035 | 0.8% | -1.9% |
| 2036 | 0.8% | -3.6% |
| 2037 | 0.8% | -1.4% |
| 2038 | 0.8% | -3.6% |
| 2039 | 0.7% | -3.3% |
| 2040 | 0.7% | -0.7% |
| 2041 | 0.7% | -0.7% |
| 2042 | 0.7% | -1.9% |
| 2043 | 0.7% | -2.0% |
| 2044 | 0.7% | -2.0% |
| 2045 | 0.7% | -1.6% |
| 2046 | 0.7% | +0.7% |
| 2047 | 0.7% | -2.5% |
| 2048 | 0.6% | -5.9% |
| 2049 | 0.6% | -1.0% |
| 2050 | 0.6% | -2.9% |
| 2051 | 0.6% | +0.7% |
| 2052 | 0.6% | -6.7% |
| 2053 | 0.5% | -3.6% |
| 2054 | 0.5% | +0.6% |
| 2055 | 0.5% | -3.5% |
| 2056 | 0.5% | -4.8% |
| 2057 | 0.5% | -0.8% |
| 2058 | 0.5% | -1.0% |
| 2059 | 0.5% | -3.7% |
| 2060 | 0.5% | -3.2% |
| 2061 | 0.4% | -3.9% |
| 2062 | 0.4% | +0.2% |
| 2063 | 0.4% | -1.4% |
| 2064 | 0.4% | -3.0% |
| 2065 | 0.4% | -8.3% |
| 2066 | 0.4% | +0.3% |
| 2067 | 0.4% | -4.1% |
| 2068 | 0.4% | -2.7% |
| 2069 | 0.4% | -1.9% |
| 2070 | 0.4% | +7.1% |
| 2071 | 0.4% | -1.8% |
| 2072 | 0.3% | -13.4% |
| 2073 | 0.3% | -1.9% |
| 2074 | 0.3% | +1.6% |
| 2075 | 0.3% | -4.4% |
| 2076 | 0.3% | -3.9% |
| 2077 | 0.3% | +5.1% |
| 2078 | 0.3% | -0.6% |
| 2079 | 0.3% | -2.6% |
| 2080 | 0.3% | +1.0% |
| 2081 | 0.3% | -1.7% |
| 2082 | 0.3% | -3.0% |
| 2083 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2084 | 0.3% | -6.2% |
| 2085 | 0.2% | -7.4% |
| 2086 | 0.3% | +10.0% |
| 2087 | 0.3% | -2.5% |
| 2088 | 0.3% | -1.9% |
| 2089 | 0.3% | -1.9% |
| 2090 | 0.2% | -3.1% |
| 2091 | 0.3% | +6.8% |
| 2092 | 0.2% | -9.4% |
| 2093 | 0.2% | +0.8% |
| 2094 | 0.2% | -1.6% |
| 2095 | 0.2% | -7.9% |
| 2096 | 0.2% | -5.0% |
| 2097 | 0.2% | -3.3% |
| 2098 | 0.2% | +8.4% |
| 2099 | 0.2% | +1.4% |
| 2100 | 0.2% | +3.1% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is -0.6%. (58 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.2% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3%, 83% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where World population growth in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | +1793.9% | 0.1% | 1.3% |
| 2017 | +513.5% | -0.4% | 1.7% |
| 2016 | -118.0% | 2.3% | -0.4% |
| 1800 | -80.4% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 1994 | -57.0% | 2.3% | 1.0% |
| 1995 | +48.2% | 1.0% | 1.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1700s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1800s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1900s | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 2 |
| 1910s | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 2 |
| 1920s | 1.9% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 2 |
| 1930s | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2 |
| 1940s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 2.0% | 2 |
| 1950s | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1960s | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.1% | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.8% | 2.7% | 3.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.3% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.6% | 1.0% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.4% | -0.4% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.2% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2030s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2040s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2050s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2060s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2070s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2080s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2090s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2100s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 45 Eritrea 0.3% compare
- 46 Yemen 0.3% compare
- 47 Sao Tome and Principe 0.2% compare
- 49 Rwanda 0.2% compare
- 50 Tuvalu 0.2% compare
- 51 Kazakhstan 0.2% compare
- 51 Solomon Islands 0.2% compare
More population data for South Africa
- Un population 2024 vs 2022, annual growth rate -0.1847 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population long run with projections, annual growth rate 0.2264 % change on previous year (2100)
- Urban and rural population 2050, annual growth rate -0.7997 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population regions with projections, annual growth rate 0.2264 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population growth rate, by level of development 0.2% (2100)
- Number of children under 5, by world region 5.55 million people (2100)
- Population density 77.75 people per km² (2100)
- Projected population under age 5, annual growth rate -0.0148 % change on previous year (2100)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 03 - Annual population 0.8824 Percent per annum (2030)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 05 - Demographic estimates 73,530 Persons (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is world population growth in South Africa?
- World population growth in South Africa was 0.2% in 2100, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest world population growth recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 3.5% in 1983.
- What is the lowest world population growth recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.4% in 2016.
- How does South Africa rank for world population growth?
- South Africa ranks 48th out of 239 countries with data for 2100.
- Is world population growth rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of World population growth. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 163 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average exponential rate of growth of the population over a given period. It is calculated as ln(P2/P1) where P1 and P2 are the populations on subsequent years. Available from 1700 to 2100, based on data and estimates from different sources.