South Africa Demographics Profile 2013

Population

48,810,427 (July 2012 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected

Age structure

0-14 years: 28.4% (male 6,955,602/female 6,914,246)
15-24 years: 21% (male 5,194,233/female 5,065,568)
25-54 years: 37.9% (male 9,550,500/female 8,958,997)
55-64 years: 6.8% (male 1,427,820/female 1,878,324)
65 years and over: 5.9% (male 1,151,510/female 1,713,627) (2012 est.)

Median age

total: 25.3 years
male: 25 years
female: 25.6 years (2012 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.412% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

19.32 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

17.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

Net migration rate

-6.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2012 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 62% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.2% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population

Johannesburg 3.607 million; Cape Town 3.353 million; Ekurhuleni (East Rand) 3.144 million; Durban 2.837 million; PRETORIA (capital) 1.404 million (2009)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 42.67 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 46.54 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 38.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 49.41 years
male: 50.34 years
female: 48.45 years (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.28 children born/woman (2012 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

17.8% (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

5.6 million (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

310,000 (2009 est.)

Sanitation facility access

improved:
urban: 84% of population
rural: 65% of population
total: 77% of population
unimproved:
urban: 16% of population
rural: 35% of population
total: 23% of population

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2009)

Nationality

noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African

Ethnic groups

black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

Religions

Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%), Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)

Languages

IsiZulu (official) 23.82%, IsiXhosa (official) 17.64%, Afrikaans (official) 13.35%, Sepedi (offcial) 9.39%, English (official) 8.2%, Setswana (official) 8.2%, Sesotho (official) 7.93%, Xitsonga (official) 4.44%, siSwati (official) 2.66%, Tshivenda (official) 2.28%, isiNdebele (official) 1.59%, other 0.5% (2001 census)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2004)

Education expenditures

5.4% of GDP (2009)

Maternal mortality rate

300 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

Health expenditures

8.5% of GDP (2009)

Physicians density

0.77 physicians/1,000 population (2004)

Hospital bed density

2.84 beds/1,000 population (2005)