Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. As of 2025, the country counted over 237.5 million individuals, whereas Ethiopia, which ranked second, has around 135.5 million inhabitants. Egypt registered the largest population in North Africa, reaching nearly 118.4 million people. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Nigeria only ranked seventh, while Mauritius had the highest population density on the whole African continent in 2023. The fastest-growing world region Africa is the second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. Nevertheless, Africa records the highest growth rate worldwide, with figures rising by over two percent every year. In some countries, such as Chad, South Sudan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, the population increase peaks at over 3.4 percent. With so many births, Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. However, this coincides with a low life expectancy. African cities on the rise The last decades have seen high urbanization rates in Asia, mainly in China and India. African cities are also growing at large rates. Indeed, the continent has three megacities and is expected to add four more by 2050. Furthermore, Africa's fastest-growing cities are forecast to be Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Zinder, Nigeria, by 2035.

The total population in South Africa was estimated at 63.0 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - South Africa Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In the middle of 2023, about 60 percent of the global population was living in Asia.The total world population amounted to 8.1 billion people on the planet. In other words 4.7 billion people were living in Asia as of 2023. Global populationDue to medical advances, better living conditions and the increase of agricultural productivity, the world population increased rapidly over the past century, and is expected to continue to grow. After reaching eight billion in 2023, the global population is estimated to pass 10 billion by 2060. Africa expected to drive population increase Most of the future population increase is expected to happen in Africa. The countries with the highest population growth rate in 2024 were mostly African countries. While around 1.47 billion people live on the continent as of 2024, this is forecast to grow to 3.9 billion by 2100. This is underlined by the fact that most of the countries wit the highest population growth rate are found in Africa. The growing population, in combination with climate change, puts increasing pressure on the world's resources.

This dataset provides values for POPULATION reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

As of 2024, South Africa's population increased, counting approximately 63 million inhabitants. Of these, roughly 27.5 million were aged 0-24, while 654,000 people were 80 years or older. Gauteng and Cape Town are the most populated South Africa’s yearly population growth has been fluctuating since 2013, with the growth rate dropping below the world average in 2024. The majority of people lived in the borders of Gauteng, the smallest of the nine provinces in terms of land area. The number of people residing there amounted to 16.6 million in 2023. Although the Western Cape was the third-largest province, the city of Cape Town had the highest number of inhabitants in the country, at 3.4 million. An underemployed younger population South Africa has a large population under 14, who will be looking for job opportunities in the future. However, the country's labor market has had difficulty integrating these youngsters. Specifically, as of the fourth quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate reached close to 60 percent and 384 percent among people aged 15-24 and 25–34 years, respectively. In the same period, some 27 percent of the individuals between 15 and 24 years were economically active, while the labor force participation rate was higher among people aged 25 to 34, at 74.3 percent.

This interactive map presents demographic data for East African countries, showing population size, fertility, mortality, migration rates, and projections up to 2050. By combining statistics with geographic locations, the map helps users explore spatial variations, compare country profiles, and understand future population challenges across the region.

Key information about South Africa population

• The South Africa population reached 63.1 million people in Jun 2025, compared with the previously reported figure of 62.3 million people in Jun 2024
• The data reached an all-time high of 63.1 million people in Jun 2025 and a record low of 16.4 million people in Jun 1960

*This indicator will be no longer available from March 2026, 4th onwards. CEIC has a plan to remove the non-standard frequency indicator after the standard frequency indicator has been added and be available on this table. CEIC extends history for annual Population. Statistics South Africa provides Mid-year Population. Population prior to 2001 is sourced from the World Bank.


Further information about South Africa population data

• In the latest reports, South Africa Unemployment Rate dropped to 31.9 % in Sep 2025
• Monthly earnings of the South Africa population was 1,589.0 USD in May 2025
• South Africa Labour Force Participation Rate dropped to 59.7 % in Sep 2025

Africa Rural Population Dataset

  Dataset Summary

This dataset provides annual rural population counts for 54 African countries from 1960 to 2024.The data originates from the World Bank Development Indicators (indicator code SP.RUR.TOTL) and has been cleaned and re-formatted for machine-learning workflows.

  Source & Collection

Original source: World Bank Open Data – Rural population (SP.RUR.TOTL)Data accessed via Excel download and processed on 2025-08-07.… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/Africa-Rural-Population-Dataset.

This statistic shows the total population of Sub-Saharan Africa from 2014 to 2024. Sub-Saharan Africa includes all countries south of the Sahara desert. In 2024, the total population of Sub-Saharan Africa amounted to approximately 1.29 billion inhabitants.

Population, total in South Africa was reported at 64007187 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Population, total - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

As of January 2024, the number of people who do not use the internet in Africa amounted to about 860 million. The number of individuals not using the internet was highest in Eastern Africa, with 360 million. Furthermore, the region ranked third among the most unconnected areas worldwide. On the other hand, Southern Africa had the smallest unconnected population on the continent, some 19 million people.

Actual value and historical data chart for South Africa Population Ages 15 64 Percent Of Total

Rural population (% of total population) in South Africa was reported at 30.7 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Developing Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SPPOPGROWSSA) from 1961 to 2024 about Sub-Saharan Africa, population, and rate.

Actual value and historical data chart for Central African Republic Population Growth Annual Percent

Actual value and historical data chart for South Africa Population Male

The total population of South Africa amounted to 63.02 million people in 2024. Following a continuous upward trend, the total population has risen by 33.94 million people since 1980. Between 2024 and 2030, the total population will rise by 5.86 million people, continuing its consistent upward trajectory.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total: All Income Levels for Sub-Saharan Africa (SPPOPTOTLSSF) from 1960 to 2024 about Sub-Saharan Africa, income, and population.

Abstract

The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program is a USAID funded program that supports governments with their demographic and health data surveys and makes the data available on their website. Demographic and health data for 46 African countries https://www.dhsprogram.com/Countries/Country-List.cfm is available from the DHS site. Researchers can register their projects with the Program on the site to obtain access to this data https://www.dhsprogram.com/data/new-user-registration.cfm Reports for each survey round are also available from the site https://www.dhsprogram.com/publications/index.cfm

Analysis unit

Households and individuals

Kind of data

Survey data

There are approximately 8.16 billion people living in the world today, a figure that shows a dramatic increase since the beginning of the Common Era. Since the 1970s, the global population has also more than doubled in size. It is estimated that the world's population will reach and surpass 10 billion people by 2060 and plateau at around 10.3 billion in the 2080s, before it then begins to fall. Asia When it comes to number of inhabitants per continent, Asia is the most populous continent in the world by a significant margin, with roughly 60 percent of the world's population living there. Similar to other global regions, a quarter of inhabitants in Asia are under 15 years of age. The most populous nations in the world are India and China respectively; each inhabit more than three times the amount of people than the third-ranked United States. 10 of the 20 most populous countries in the world are found in Asia. Africa Interestingly, the top 20 countries with highest population growth rate are mainly countries in Africa. This is due to the present stage of Sub-Saharan Africa's demographic transition, where mortality rates are falling significantly, although fertility rates are yet to drop and match this. As much of Asia is nearing the end of its demographic transition, population growth is predicted to be much slower in this century than in the previous; in contrast, Africa's population is expected to reach almost four billion by the year 2100. Unlike demographic transitions in other continents, Africa's population development is being influenced by climate change on a scale unseen by most other global regions. Rising temperatures are exacerbating challenges such as poor sanitation, lack of infrastructure, and political instability, which have historically hindered societal progress. It remains to be seen how Africa and the world at large adapts to this crisis as it continues to cause drought, desertification, natural disasters, and climate migration across the region.