South Africa: Population and Key Statistics

AfricaCapital: Pretoria#21 by population

South Africa has the continent's most industrialized economy and is the only African member of the G20. It supplies roughly 70% of the world's platinum output on its own and is a mining giant in gold, chromium, and manganese reserves as well.

The country has three capitals: the executive sits in Pretoria, the legislature in Cape Town, and the judiciary in Bloemfontein. South Africa records one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, and official unemployment runs above 30%; even so, it has the continent's deepest financial markets and its most developed infrastructure.

Population (2025)
64.7 million
64,747,319 people
GDP (2025)
$427bn
nominal, current US dollars
GDP per capita
$6,598
Life expectancy
66.3
years
Area
1,219,090
km²
Population density
53
people/km²
Median age
28.0
Internet usage
78.4%

Military Strength

Military expenditure (2024)
$2.8bn
2,836 million dollars
Share of GDP
0.70%
NATO guideline: 2%
Share of government spending
2.11%
Spending per capita
$44
per year, per person
Armed forces (2020)
89 thousand
89,000 active personnel
Armed forces per 1,000 people
1.4
0.40% of the labor force

Expenditure figures come from SIPRI and personnel counts from the IISS, both distributed through the World Bank. Source years differ by indicator, so each figure is shown with its own year.

Data sourcesPopulation and social indicators: UN World Population Prospects, World BankEconomy: IMF World Economic Outlook, World BankMilitary: SIPRI and IISS, distributed through the World BankLast refreshed: 2026-08-26