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🇿🇦 South Africa
Republic of South Africa
ZAF ZA R South African rand (ZAR)
Every statistic we track for South Africa — 167 indicators, each with its latest value and world rank. Open the interactive profile →
$16,740
64.3 yrs
5.01
0.63
Most similar countries
By profile across every shared indicator (global percentiles).
🇧🇷 Brazil · 75% 🇧🇼 Botswana · 72% 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago · 72% 🇳🇦 Namibia · 72% 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic · 72%
More Southern Africa countries
Compare South Africa with its neighbours across the same 167 indicators.
All indicators
📈 Economy
👥 Demographics
| Fertility Rate (WB) | 2.2 | #94/217 | 2024 |
| Gender Inequality Index | 0.4 | #78/172 | 2023 |
| Median Age | 28.9 | #145/235 | 2026 |
| Population | 51 | #24/229 | 2013 |
| Population | 64 | #24/191 | 2026 |
| Population Density | 53.6 | #163/235 | 2026 |
| Refugees by Country of Origin | 1,319 | #101/195 | 2025 |
| Urban Population | 63.7% | #109/213 | 2024 |
🌐 Connectivity
| Access to Electricity | 90.2% | #160/214 | 2024 |
| Get News from the Internet (Afrobarometer) | 64% | #6/39 | 2023 |
| Internet Users | 78.4% | #102/182 | 2024 |
| Mobile Subscriptions | 160.7 | #20/209 | 2022 |
| Read News Online | 45.2% | #35/75 | 2024 |
🫀 Health
🎓 Education
| Education Spending (QoG) | 6.1% | #12/112 | 2023 |
| Mean Years of Schooling | 10.5 | #57/146 | 2020 |
| PIRLS Reading, Grade 4 | 288.2 | #53/53 | 2021 |
| TIMSS Mathematics, Grade 4 | 361.7 | #55/55 | 2023 |
| TIMSS Mathematics, Grade 8 | 396.5 | #37/41 | 2023 |
| TIMSS Science, Grade 4 | 307.9 | #55/55 | 2023 |
| TIMSS Science, Grade 8 | 362.3 | #40/41 | 2023 |
🌱 Environment
| CO₂ per Capita (WB) | 6.9 | #36/203 | 2024 |
| Energy Use per Person | 1,939 | #58/149 | 2023 |
| Environmental Performance Index | 42.7 | #106/179 | 2024 |
| Renewable Electricity | 12.5% | #142/195 | 2024 |
🏛️ Governance
📰 Media & news
| News Avoidance (Digital News Report) | 42% | #24/48 | 2026 |
| Press Freedom Index | 78 | #21/177 | 2026 |
| Social Media as News Source (Digital News Report) | 74% | #3/48 | 2026 |
| Trust in News (Digital News Report) | 50% | #9/48 | 2026 |
| Trust in the News Media (ISSP) | 45.2% | #10/28 | 2020 |
🛡️ Safety
| Felt Unsafe in the Neighbourhood (Afrobarometer) | 73% | #2/39 | 2023 |
| Global Peace Index | 2.3 | #38/160 | 2025 |
| Homicide Rate | 32.5 | #9/204 | 2023 |
| Road Traffic Deaths | 24.5 | #20/195 | 2021 |
| Trust in the Police (Afrobarometer) | 32.7% | #32/39 | 2023 |
⚠️ Risk & resilience
| Climate Seen as a Threat | 85.8% | #75/142 | 2023 |
| Confident Can Protect Family | 23.4% | #123/142 | 2023 |
| Disaster Exposure (WRI) | 7 | #47/193 | 2026 |
| Experienced a Disaster | 29.5% | #56/142 | 2023 |
| Experienced Discrimination (Skin Colour) | 16.2% | #14/139 | 2023 |
| INFORM Risk Index | 5.1 | #58/191 | 2025 |
| Resilience to Risk (WRP) | 47.2 | #104/141 | 2023 |
| World Risk Index | 15.1 | #35/193 | 2026 |
| Worry About Violent Crime | 85.6% | #11/142 | 2023 |
😊 Wellbeing
| Happiness (Cantril Ladder) | 5 | #101/147 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: Freedom | 0.8 | #103/146 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: GDP | 1.5 | #87/147 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: Generosity | 0.1 | #110/147 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: Healthy Life Expectancy | 0.1 | #141/146 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: Low Corruption | 0.1 | #120/147 | 2025 |
| Happiness Driver: Social Support | 1.3 | #77/147 | 2025 |
| Human Development Index | 0.7 | #106/193 | 2023 |
| Went Without a Cash Income (Afrobarometer) | 65.4% | #34/39 | 2023 |
| Went Without Enough Food (Afrobarometer) | 51.7% | #27/39 | 2023 |
🧭 Attitudes & values
Latest available period per indicator. The rank counts down from the highest value, whatever that means for the series: on child mortality or extreme poverty the country at #1 is the worst in the world, not the best. Sources are credited on each indicator page.