South Africa's population is estimated by the United Nations to be 60.4 million in 2021.
The population of South Africa grew at 1.2% in the last year and is ranked the 6th most populated country in Africa, ahead of Kenya.
South Africa last conducted a national census in 2011 and 88.6% of births in South Africa are recorded. Read more from the World Econcomics Population Data Quality Ratings and see how South Africa compares to other countries around the world and in the Africa region.
South Africa's data is highlighted in the table below, use the filter and sort order options to allow easy comparison with other countries.
Data source: United Nations, Washington D.C., Eurostat, Luxembourg and World Economics Research, London