South Africa Demographics: Median age, Gender, Race, Religion

Median age history and projection chart in
South Africa vs World

Table

Year	Median age
	South Africa	World
1960	19	22.5
1961	19	22.5
1962	18.9	22.4
1963	18.9	22.2
1964	18.9	22
1965	18.8	21.8
1966	18.8	21.7
1967	18.8	21.6
1968	18.8	21.5
1969	18.8	21.5
1970	18.8	21.4
1971	18.8	21.4
1972	18.8	21.5
1973	18.8	21.5
1974	18.9	21.6
1975	18.9	21.7
1976	19	21.9
1977	19.1	22
1978	19.2	22.2
1979	19.3	22.3
1980	19.4	22.5
1981	19.6	22.6
1982	19.8	22.7
1983	20	22.9
1984	20.2	23
1985	20.4	23.2
1986	20.5	23.3
1987	20.7	23.4
1988	20.9	23.6
1989	21.1	23.8
1990	21.3	23.9
1991	21.5	24.1
1992	21.5	24.3
1993	21.9	24.5
1994	22	24.7
1995	21.5	25
1996	21.2	25.2
1997	21.2	25.4
1998	21.4	25.7
1999	21.6	25.9
2000	21.9	26.1
2001	22.2	26.3
2002	22.4	26.5
2003	22.8	26.7
2004	23.1	27
2005	23.3	27.2
2006	23.5	27.4
2007	23.8	27.6
2008	24	27.8
2009	24.3	28
2010	24.6	28.2
2011	25	28.4
2012	25.3	28.6
2013	25.7	28.9
2014	26	29.1
2015	26.4	29.3
2016	26.7	29.5
2017	27	29.8
2018	27.5	30
2019	27.9	30.3
2020	28.3	30.6
2021	28.6	30.8
2022	28.9	31
2023	29.2	31.3
2024	29.5	31.6
2025	29.7	31.9
2026	29.9	32.1
2027	30.1	32.3
2028	30.3	32.6
2029	30.4	32.8
2030	30.6	33
2031	30.7	33.2
2032	30.9	33.4
2033	31	33.6
2034	31	33.8
2035	31.2	34
2036	31.3	34.2
2037	31.5	34.4
2038	31.6	34.6
2039	31.8	34.8
2040	32	35
2041	32.2	35.2
2042	32.3	35.4
2043	32.5	35.6
2044	32.6	35.8
2045	32.8	36
2046	32.9	36.2
2047	33	36.4
2048	33.1	36.6
2049	33.2	36.8
2050	33.3	37.1

In 1960, the median age in South Africa was 19 years compared to the world's average of 22.5 years. As of 2024, the median age had increased to 29.5 years compared to the world's average of 31.6 years. Ranked 114th for median age 64 years ago (old to young), South Africa ranks 107th currently.

According to the United Nations projections, the median age in South Africa is expected to increase to around 33.3 years by 2050. The aging demographics forecast is based on previous years' birth rates and increasing life expectancy.

South Africa demographic pyramid: age and gender distribution

Table

Age range	Share of population
	South Africa
	Male	Female
0-4	4.65%	4.58%
5-9	4.19%	4.17%
10-14	4.16%	4.14%
15-19	4.21%	4.16%
20-24	4.04%	3.93%
25-29	4.34%	4.37%
30-34	4.42%	4.52%
35-39	4.2%	4.25%
40-44	3.64%	3.66%
45-49	2.77%	2.86%
50-54	2.18%	2.44%
55-59	1.76%	2.17%
60-64	1.51%	1.96%
65-69	1.14%	1.55%
70-74	0.74%	1.11%
75-79	0.36%	0.63%
80+	0.34%	0.81%

The chart above is a variation of the population pyramid and represents the age and gender structure. South Africa has average demographic potential with 59.9% of people in the 0-34 age group (ranked 86/196).

Age dependency chart

Table

Year	Age dependency ratio
	South Africa			World
	Total	Young	Old	Total	Young	Old
1960	83.4%	77.2%	6.22%	73.5%	64.9%	8.62%
1961	83.4%	77.2%	6.2%	73.8%	65.1%	8.67%
1962	83.4%	77.2%	6.18%	74.1%	65.4%	8.73%
1963	83.3%	77.1%	6.19%	74.9%	66.1%	8.79%
1964	83.3%	77.1%	6.22%	75.5%	66.6%	8.85%
1965	83.5%	77.2%	6.26%	75.8%	66.8%	8.93%
1966	83.8%	77.5%	6.32%	75.9%	66.9%	9%
1967	84%	77.7%	6.39%	75.9%	66.8%	9.07%
1968	84.3%	77.8%	6.46%	75.8%	66.6%	9.14%
1969	84.5%	77.9%	6.54%	75.7%	66.5%	9.2%
1970	84.6%	78%	6.61%	75.5%	66.2%	9.26%
1971	84.7%	78%	6.67%	75.2%	65.9%	9.33%
1972	84.6%	77.9%	6.72%	74.9%	65.6%	9.39%
1973	84.5%	77.7%	6.76%	74.6%	65.1%	9.46%
1974	84.3%	77.5%	6.79%	74.4%	64.9%	9.54%
1975	84%	77.2%	6.83%	74.2%	64.6%	9.64%
1976	83.7%	76.9%	6.85%	74%	64.3%	9.72%
1977	83.3%	76.4%	6.87%	73.5%	63.7%	9.79%
1978	82.6%	75.7%	6.88%	72.4%	62.5%	9.84%
1979	82%	75.1%	6.89%	71.3%	61.4%	9.88%
1980	80.9%	74%	6.88%	70.4%	60.5%	9.89%
1981	79.6%	72.7%	6.87%	69.5%	59.6%	9.85%
1982	78.4%	71.5%	6.88%	68.7%	58.9%	9.79%
1983	77.5%	70.6%	6.91%	67.9%	58.1%	9.72%
1984	76.7%	69.8%	6.95%	67%	57.3%	9.68%
1985	76%	69%	6.98%	66.3%	56.6%	9.68%
1986	75.2%	68.2%	6.98%	65.7%	55.9%	9.71%
1987	74.4%	67.4%	6.96%	65.2%	55.4%	9.75%
1988	73.5%	66.6%	6.93%	64.8%	54.9%	9.81%
1989	72.6%	65.7%	6.86%	64.4%	54.5%	9.89%
1990	71.5%	64.7%	6.78%	64.2%	54.3%	9.97%
1991	70.9%	64.1%	6.74%	64%	53.9%	10.1%
1992	71.1%	64.3%	6.82%	63.7%	53.6%	10.2%
1993	70.2%	63.4%	6.79%	63.5%	53.2%	10.3%
1994	70.2%	63.3%	6.89%	63.1%	52.7%	10.4%
1995	71.5%	64.3%	7.18%	62.7%	52.2%	10.5%
1996	72%	64.6%	7.46%	62.1%	51.5%	10.6%
1997	71.6%	63.9%	7.69%	61.5%	50.8%	10.7%
1998	69.8%	62%	7.79%	60.7%	50%	10.7%
1999	67.8%	60%	7.84%	60%	49.2%	10.8%
2000	65.7%	57.8%	7.87%	59.3%	48.4%	10.9%
2001	63.5%	55.7%	7.88%	58.5%	47.6%	11%
2002	61.4%	53.5%	7.88%	57.8%	46.7%	11.1%
2003	59.5%	51.6%	7.9%	57%	45.9%	11.1%
2004	57.9%	49.9%	7.93%	56.3%	45.1%	11.2%
2005	56.7%	48.7%	7.98%	55.6%	44.3%	11.3%
2006	55.7%	47.7%	8.03%	55%	43.6%	11.4%
2007	54.8%	46.8%	8.05%	54.5%	43.1%	11.4%
2008	54.2%	46.1%	8.07%	54.1%	42.6%	11.5%
2009	53.7%	45.6%	8.07%	53.8%	42.2%	11.6%
2010	53%	45%	8.03%	53.5%	41.9%	11.6%
2011	52.4%	44.4%	7.99%	53.4%	41.6%	11.8%
2012	51.9%	43.9%	7.97%	53.3%	41.4%	11.9%
2013	51.5%	43.5%	8.01%	53.4%	41.2%	12.1%
2014	51.1%	43.1%	8.06%	53.5%	41.1%	12.4%
2015	50.8%	42.7%	8.1%	53.6%	40.9%	12.7%
2016	51.1%	42.8%	8.27%	53.7%	40.7%	13%
2017	51.3%	42.8%	8.51%	53.9%	40.6%	13.3%
2018	50.7%	42%	8.7%	54.1%	40.4%	13.7%
2019	50.1%	41.2%	8.92%	54.2%	40.1%	14%
2020	49.5%	40.4%	9.13%	54.2%	39.8%	14.4%
2021	48.9%	39.6%	9.28%	54.2%	39.5%	14.7%
2022	48.6%	39.1%	9.45%	54%	39%	15%
2023	48.4%	38.7%	9.67%	53.9%	38.5%	15.4%
2024	48.3%	38.4%	9.92%	53.7%	38%	15.7%

Age dependency is the ratio of people not in the labor force (children under 15 and adults 64+) to people aged 15 to 64. Age dependency in South Africa decreased from 57.9% to 48.3% between 2004 and 2024 with a decreased share of children and an increased proportion of people aged 65+

South Africa working age demographic chart

Table

Year	Working age population share
	South Africa	World
1960	54.5%	57.6%
1961	54.5%	57.5%
1962	54.5%	57.4%
1963	54.6%	57.2%
1964	54.6%	57%
1965	54.5%	56.9%
1966	54.4%	56.8%
1967	54.3%	56.9%
1968	54.3%	56.9%
1969	54.2%	56.9%
1970	54.2%	57%
1971	54.2%	57.1%
1972	54.2%	57.2%
1973	54.2%	57.3%
1974	54.3%	57.3%
1975	54.3%	57.4%
1976	54.4%	57.5%
1977	54.6%	57.7%
1978	54.8%	58%
1979	55%	58.4%
1980	55.3%	58.7%
1981	55.7%	59%
1982	56.1%	59.3%
1983	56.3%	59.6%
1984	56.6%	59.9%
1985	56.8%	60.1%
1986	57.1%	60.4%
1987	57.3%	60.5%
1988	57.6%	60.7%
1989	57.9%	60.8%
1990	58.3%	60.9%
1991	58.5%	61%
1992	58.4%	61.1%
1993	58.8%	61.2%
1994	58.8%	61.3%
1995	58.3%	61.5%
1996	58.1%	61.7%
1997	58.3%	61.9%
1998	58.9%	62.2%
1999	59.6%	62.5%
2000	60.3%	62.8%
2001	61.1%	63.1%
2002	62%	63.4%
2003	62.7%	63.7%
2004	63.3%	64%
2005	63.8%	64.3%
2006	64.2%	64.5%
2007	64.6%	64.7%
2008	64.9%	64.9%
2009	65.1%	65%
2010	65.3%	65.1%
2011	65.6%	65.2%
2012	65.8%	65.2%
2013	66%	65.2%
2014	66.2%	65.2%
2015	66.3%	65.1%
2016	66.2%	65.1%
2017	66.1%	65%
2018	66.4%	64.9%
2019	66.6%	64.9%
2020	66.9%	64.8%
2021	67.2%	64.9%
2022	67.3%	64.9%
2023	67.4%	65%
2024	67.4%	65.1%
2025	67.4%	65.2%
2026	67.3%	65.3%
2027	67.3%	65.4%
2028	67.2%	65.4%
2029	67.2%	65.4%
2030	67.1%	65.4%
2031	67%	65.4%
2032	67%	65.4%
2033	67.1%	65.4%
2034	67.2%	65.3%
2035	67.4%	65.2%
2036	67.6%	65%
2037	67.7%	64.9%
2038	67.9%	64.7%
2039	68%	64.6%
2040	68.1%	64.5%
2041	68.1%	64.4%
2042	68.2%	64.3%
2043	68.2%	64.2%
2044	68.1%	64.1%
2045	68%	63.9%
2046	67.9%	63.8%
2047	67.8%	63.7%
2048	67.6%	63.6%
2049	67.4%	63.4%
2050	67.2%	63.3%

The share of working-age demographics aged 15-64 in South Africa changed from 63.3% to 67.4% between 2004 and 2024.

Share of young population (0-14 years)

Table

Year	Share of population 0-14 years old
	South Africa	World
1960	42.1%	37.4%
1961	42.1%	37.5%
1962	42.1%	37.6%
1963	42.1%	37.8%
1964	42.1%	38%
1965	42.1%	38%
1966	42.1%	38%
1967	42.2%	38%
1968	42.2%	37.9%
1969	42.2%	37.8%
1970	42.3%	37.7%
1971	42.2%	37.6%
1972	42.2%	37.5%
1973	42.1%	37.3%
1974	42%	37.2%
1975	41.9%	37.1%
1976	41.8%	36.9%
1977	41.7%	36.7%
1978	41.5%	36.3%
1979	41.3%	35.9%
1980	40.9%	35.5%
1981	40.5%	35.2%
1982	40.1%	34.9%
1983	39.8%	34.6%
1984	39.5%	34.3%
1985	39.2%	34%
1986	38.9%	33.8%
1987	38.7%	33.6%
1988	38.4%	33.4%
1989	38.1%	33.2%
1990	37.7%	33%
1991	37.5%	32.9%
1992	37.6%	32.7%
1993	37.3%	32.5%
1994	37.2%	32.3%
1995	37.5%	32.1%
1996	37.5%	31.8%
1997	37.2%	31.5%
1998	36.5%	31.1%
1999	35.7%	30.8%
2000	34.9%	30.4%
2001	34%	30%
2002	33.2%	29.6%
2003	32.3%	29.2%
2004	31.6%	28.8%
2005	31.1%	28.5%
2006	30.6%	28.1%
2007	30.2%	27.9%
2008	29.9%	27.6%
2009	29.7%	27.5%
2010	29.4%	27.3%
2011	29.1%	27.1%
2012	28.9%	27%
2013	28.7%	26.9%
2014	28.5%	26.8%
2015	28.3%	26.6%
2016	28.3%	26.5%
2017	28.3%	26.4%
2018	27.9%	26.2%
2019	27.4%	26%
2020	27%	25.8%
2021	26.6%	25.6%
2022	26.3%	25.3%
2023	26.1%	25%
2024	25.9%	24.7%
2025	25.7%	24.4%
2026	25.6%	24.1%
2027	25.4%	23.8%
2028	25.3%	23.4%
2029	25.2%	23.1%
2030	25.2%	22.8%
2031	25.1%	22.6%
2032	25%	22.3%
2033	24.8%	22.1%
2034	24.5%	21.9%
2035	24.3%	21.7%
2036	23.9%	21.6%
2037	23.6%	21.5%
2038	23.4%	21.4%
2039	23.1%	21.3%
2040	22.9%	21.2%
2041	22.7%	21.1%
2042	22.5%	21%
2043	22.4%	21%
2044	22.2%	20.9%
2045	22.1%	20.8%
2046	21.9%	20.7%
2047	21.8%	20.7%
2048	21.7%	20.6%
2049	21.6%	20.5%
2050	21.5%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in South Africa decreased from 31.6% to 25.9% between 2004 and 2024 due to changes in birth rates.

Share of old population (65+)

Table

Year	Share of population 65+ years old
	South Africa	World
1960	3.39%	4.97%
1961	3.38%	4.99%
1962	3.37%	5.01%
1963	3.38%	5.02%
1964	3.39%	5.04%
1965	3.41%	5.08%
1966	3.44%	5.12%
1967	3.47%	5.16%
1968	3.51%	5.2%
1969	3.54%	5.24%
1970	3.58%	5.28%
1971	3.61%	5.32%
1972	3.64%	5.37%
1973	3.66%	5.42%
1974	3.69%	5.47%
1975	3.71%	5.53%
1976	3.73%	5.59%
1977	3.75%	5.65%
1978	3.77%	5.71%
1979	3.79%	5.77%
1980	3.8%	5.81%
1981	3.83%	5.81%
1982	3.86%	5.8%
1983	3.89%	5.79%
1984	3.93%	5.8%
1985	3.97%	5.82%
1986	3.98%	5.86%
1987	3.99%	5.91%
1988	3.99%	5.95%
1989	3.98%	6.01%
1990	3.95%	6.07%
1991	3.95%	6.14%
1992	3.99%	6.21%
1993	3.99%	6.29%
1994	4.05%	6.37%
1995	4.19%	6.45%
1996	4.34%	6.53%
1997	4.48%	6.61%
1998	4.59%	6.68%
1999	4.67%	6.76%
2000	4.75%	6.84%
2001	4.82%	6.92%
2002	4.88%	7.01%
2003	4.95%	7.1%
2004	5.02%	7.18%
2005	5.1%	7.26%
2006	5.15%	7.34%
2007	5.2%	7.41%
2008	5.24%	7.47%
2009	5.25%	7.52%
2010	5.25%	7.58%
2011	5.24%	7.66%
2012	5.25%	7.78%
2013	5.29%	7.92%
2014	5.33%	8.08%
2015	5.37%	8.26%
2016	5.47%	8.45%
2017	5.63%	8.65%
2018	5.78%	8.88%
2019	5.95%	9.1%
2020	6.11%	9.33%
2021	6.23%	9.53%
2022	6.36%	9.74%
2023	6.52%	9.98%
2024	6.69%	10.2%
2025	6.89%	10.4%
2026	7.08%	10.6%
2027	7.26%	10.8%
2028	7.44%	11.1%
2029	7.61%	11.5%
2030	7.76%	11.7%
2031	7.89%	12%
2032	8.01%	12.3%
2033	8.14%	12.6%
2034	8.26%	12.8%
2035	8.39%	13.1%
2036	8.52%	13.4%
2037	8.64%	13.7%
2038	8.76%	13.9%
2039	8.88%	14.1%
2040	9.01%	14.3%
2041	9.15%	14.5%
2042	9.3%	14.7%
2043	9.48%	14.9%
2044	9.68%	15%
2045	9.9%	15.2%
2046	10.1%	15.4%
2047	10.4%	15.7%
2048	10.7%	15.9%
2049	11%	16.1%
2050	11.3%	16.3%

The share of older people aged 65 and over in South Africa increased from 5.02% to 6.69% between 2004 and 2024 due to changes in life expectancy.