South Africa Demographics Profile 2009

Population

49,052,489
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 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 28.9% (male 7,093,328/female 7,061,579)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 16,275,424/female 15,984,181)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,075,117/female 1,562,860) (2009 est.)

Median age

total: 24.4 years
male: 24.1 years
female: 24.8 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

0.281% (2009 est.)

Birth rate

19.93 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate

16.99 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2009 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 61% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 44.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.66 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 40.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 48.98 years
male: 49.81 years
female: 48.13 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.38 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

18.1% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

5.7 million (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

350,000 (2007 est.)

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

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

Languages

IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (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 (2006)