In 2024, the median age in Africa was **** years, meaning that half of the population was older and half was younger than that age. The median age on the continent increased compared to 2000 when it was around ** years. Africa is the youngest continent in the world and presents the highest share of inhabitants aged 14 years and younger, that is, ** percent of the total population. Niger, Uganda, and Angola were the countries with the youngest population in Africa as of 2023.

List of African countries by median age of the total population and male and female median ages. Niger with an average age of 14.8 years old is the youngest country in Africa and the youngest country in the world.

In 2023, there were around 211 million children aged 0-4 years in Africa. In total, the population aged 17 years and younger amounted to approximately 680 million. In contrast, only approximately 52 million individuals were aged 65 years and older as of the same year. The youngest continent in the world Africa is the continent with the youngest population worldwide. As of 2024, around 40 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa was aged 15 years and younger, compared to a global average of 25 percent. Although the median age on the continent has been increasing annually, it remains low at around 20 years. There are several reasons behind the low median age. One factor is the low life expectancy at birth: On average, the male and female populations in Africa live between 61 and 65 years, respectively. In addition, poor healthcare on the continent leads to high mortality, also among children and newborns, while the high fertility rate contributes to lowering the median age. Cross-country demographic differences Africa’s demographic characteristics are not uniform across the continent. The age structure of the population differs significantly from one country to another. For instance, Niger and Uganda have the lowest median age in Africa, at 15.1 and 16.1 years, respectively. Not surprisingly, these countries also register a high crude birth rate. On the other hand, North Africa is the region recording the highest life expectancy at birth, with Tunisia and Algeria leading the ranking in 2025.

Africa has the youngest population in the world. Among the 35 countries with the lowest median age worldwide, only three fall outside the continent. In 2023, the median age in Niger was 15.1 years, the youngest country. This means that at this age point, half of the population was younger and half older. A young population reflects several demographic characteristics of a country. For instance, together with a high population growth, life expectancy in Western Africa is low: this reached 58 years for men and 60 for women in 2024. Overall, Africa has the lowest life expectancy in the world.

Africa’s population is still growing Africa’s population growth can be linked to a high fertility rate, along with a drop in death rates. Despite the fertility rate on the continent following a constant declining trend, it remains far higher compared to all other regions worldwide. It was forecast to reach 4.02 children per woman, compared to a worldwide average of 2.25 children per woman in 2024. Furthermore, the crude death rate in Africa overall dropped, only increasing slightly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The largest populations on the continent Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the most populous African countries. In 2025, people living in Nigeria amounted to over 237 million, while the number for the three other countries exceeded 100 million each. Of those, the Democratic Republic of Congo sustained the fourth-highest fertility rate in Africa in 2023. Nigeria and Ethiopia also had high rates, with 4.48 and 3.99 births per woman, respectively. Although such a high fertility rate is expected to slow down, it will still impact the population structure, growing younger nations.

List of African countries by median age. Niger average age is 14.8, the youngest African country and the youngest country in the world. The African islands of Seychelles is the oldest African country with an average age of 36.8.

This horizontal bar chart displays median age (year) by countries using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Africa. The data is about countries.

In 2024, around ** percent of the total population of Sub-Saharan Africa was aged 15 to 64 years. Moreover, children younger than 15 years constituted nearly ** percent of the inhabitants. Overall, Africa has a young population. Only ***** percent of the individuals in the Sub-Saharan region were aged 65 years and older. As of 2023, Niger, Uganda, Angola, and Mali had a median age below 16.5 years, the lowest on the continent.

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

The average for 2023 based on 53 countries was 73.61 percent. The highest value was in the Central African Republic: 105.18 percent and the lowest value was in Mauritius: 39.02 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2024 based on 53 countries was 3.99 percent. The highest value was in Mauritius: 13.53 percent and the lowest value was in Zambia: 1.95 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Gridded, spatial datasets for Africa providing population estimates per ~1km for males and females, for each 5-year age bracket from age 0 to over 65. Age group proportions are based on subnational demographic data. Population counts when totaled nationally are adjusted to match UN population division estimates, 2015 revision (http://esa.un.org/wpp/).

South Africa ZA: Primary Completion Rate: Female: % of Relevant Age Group data was reported at 82.651 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 97.053 % for 2004. South Africa ZA: Primary Completion Rate: Female: % of Relevant Age Group data is updated yearly, averaging 87.778 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2015, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 97.053 % in 2004 and a record low of 77.723 % in 1991. South Africa ZA: Primary Completion Rate: Female: % of Relevant Age Group data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Primary completion rate, or gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary education, is the number of new entrants (enrollments minus repeaters) in the last grade of primary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of primary education. Data limitations preclude adjusting for students who drop out during the final year of primary education.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

South Africa ZA: Population: Male: Ages 70-74: % of Male Population data was reported at 1.158 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.152 % for 2016. South Africa ZA: Population: Male: Ages 70-74: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 0.949 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.158 % in 2017 and a record low of 0.823 % in 1985. South Africa ZA: Population: Male: Ages 70-74: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 70 to 74 as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for South Africa (LFWA64TTZAQ647S) from Q3 2000 to Q2 2025 about working-age, South Africa, 15 to 64 years, and population.

This statistic shows the median age of the population in South Africa from 1950 to 2100*.The median age is the age that divides a population into two numerically equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and half are older. It is a single index that summarizes the age distribution of a population. In 2020, the median age of the South African population was 27.3 years.

South Africa ZA: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 66.071 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 65.988 % for 2016. South Africa ZA: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 56.838 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 66.071 % in 2017 and a record low of 54.429 % in 1966. South Africa ZA: Population: as % of Total: Male: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total male population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average;

The average for 2022 based on 53 countries was 6 years. The highest value was in Burundi: 7 years and the lowest value was in Mauritius: 5 years. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

South Africa ZA: Population: Female: Ages 35-39: % of Female Population data was reported at 7.063 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.927 % for 2016. South Africa ZA: Population: Female: Ages 35-39: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 5.849 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.063 % in 2017 and a record low of 5.200 % in 1983. South Africa ZA: Population: Female: Ages 35-39: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 35 to 39 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 25 to 54 Years for South Africa (LFWA25TTZAQ647S) from Q1 2008 to Q1 2025 about 25 to 54 years, working-age, South Africa, and population.

South Africa ZA: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data was reported at 52.275 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.409 % for 2016. South Africa ZA: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data is updated yearly, averaging 75.926 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 85.403 % in 1966 and a record low of 52.275 % in 2017. South Africa ZA: Age Dependency Ratio: % of Working-Age Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Age dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents--people younger than 15 or older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: this indicator implies the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. Many times single or widowed women who are the sole caregiver of a household have a high dependency ratio.