South Africa
South Africa in numbers — 19 World Bank indicators, each linking to its complete year-by-year history.
South Africa recorded GDP per capita: 6,598 (2025), ranking 125 of 212 worldwide; Population: 64.75 million (2025), ranking 24 of 217 worldwide; Life expectancy: 66.3 (2024), ranking 183 of 217 worldwide; Inflation: 3.21% (2025), ranking 92 of 187 worldwide. The year in brackets is the reference year for that figure.
Measured across each series' full span, GDP shows the largest increase (+4783%) and Infant mortality the largest decrease (-78%). Every indicator below links to its complete year-by-year series.
It sits close to the world median across the measures below. Measured against the median of every economy covered here, 10 of 19 comparable series are higher and 9 are lower.
Its population of 64.75 million (2025) makes it a mid-sized population by the standards of this dataset.
All 19 series on this page carry a value for 2023 or later.
Indicators
| Indicator | Latest | Year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | 427,184,325,997.31 | 2025 | +4782.9% |
| GDP per capita | 6,597.71 | 2025 | +1139.8% |
| GDP growth | 1.11% | 2025 | -71.0% |
| Population | 64,747,319 | 2025 | +293.8% |
| Population growth | 1.15% | 2025 | -59.0% |
| Urban population | 63.82% | 2025 | +36.7% |
| Inflation | 3.21% | 2025 | +148.7% |
| Life expectancy | 66.31 | 2024 | +26.1% |
| Infant mortality | 24.2 | 2024 | -77.8% |
| CO2 per capita | 6.88 | 2024 | -17.4% |
| GDP (PPP) | 1,029,850,100,740.7 | 2025 | +296.1% |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | 15,905.68 | 2025 | +149.2% |
| Labor participation | 55.58% | 2025 | -4.3% |
| Unemployment | 32.39% | 2025 | +40.0% |
| Internet users | 78.36% | 2024 | — |
| Education spending | 6.02% | 2024 | +26.7% |
| Electricity access | 90.2% | 2024 | +56.6% |
| Forest area | 13.97% | 2023 | -6.6% |
| Health spending | 8.91% | 2023 | +21.4% |