Population in Rwanda compared to South Africa: Trends, Charts, Rankings

Rwanda and South Africa: population history and growth rate by year chart

Table

Year	Population		Growth rate
	Rwanda	South Africa	Rwanda	South Africa
1960	3,022,294	16,440,172	-	-
1961	3,106,779	16,908,035	2.8%	2.85%
1962	3,186,025	17,418,522	2.55%	3.02%
1963	3,258,890	17,954,564	2.29%	3.08%
1964	3,334,834	18,511,361	2.33%	3.1%
1965	3,423,210	19,089,380	2.65%	3.12%
1966	3,521,626	19,690,087	2.87%	3.15%
1967	3,629,577	20,314,066	3.07%	3.17%
1968	3,744,010	20,957,287	3.15%	3.17%
1969	3,861,271	21,614,676	3.13%	3.14%
1970	3,980,669	22,279,984	3.09%	3.08%
1971	4,100,044	22,942,143	3%	2.97%
1972	4,220,335	23,609,456	2.93%	2.91%
1973	4,345,047	24,294,263	2.96%	2.9%
1974	4,474,228	24,989,108	2.97%	2.86%
1975	4,607,728	25,690,940	2.98%	2.81%
1976	4,745,954	26,395,450	3%	2.74%
1977	4,888,240	27,118,952	3%	2.74%
1978	5,035,171	27,869,507	3.01%	2.77%
1979	5,189,541	28,634,162	3.07%	2.74%
1980	5,353,259	29,518,857	3.15%	3.09%
1981	5,527,230	30,541,044	3.25%	3.46%
1982	5,711,549	31,615,339	3.33%	3.52%
1983	5,905,311	32,739,304	3.39%	3.56%
1984	6,107,627	33,892,788	3.43%	3.52%
1985	6,317,228	35,042,093	3.43%	3.39%
1986	6,531,881	36,180,515	3.4%	3.25%
1987	6,749,493	37,326,190	3.33%	3.17%
1988	6,968,071	38,480,649	3.24%	3.09%
1989	7,184,706	39,628,575	3.11%	2.98%
1990	7,375,307	40,746,268	2.65%	2.82%
1991	7,526,966	41,687,898	2.06%	2.31%
1992	7,683,266	42,443,509	2.08%	1.81%
1993	7,981,132	43,297,156	3.88%	2.01%
1994	6,792,352	44,004,139	-14.9%	1.63%
1995	5,674,118	44,541,554	-16.5%	1.22%
1996	6,708,764	45,123,018	18.2%	1.31%
1997	7,755,238	45,666,838	15.6%	1.21%
1998	8,081,681	46,223,880	4.21%	1.22%
1999	8,147,912	46,730,335	0.82%	1.1%
2000	8,213,931	47,159,719	0.81%	0.92%
2001	8,287,094	47,566,800	0.89%	0.86%
2002	8,400,180	48,019,415	1.36%	0.95%
2003	8,586,875	48,500,348	2.22%	1%
2004	8,816,844	48,991,421	2.68%	1.01%
2005	9,054,528	49,490,033	2.7%	1.02%
2006	9,299,246	49,998,277	2.7%	1.03%
2007	9,549,933	50,528,584	2.7%	1.06%
2008	9,804,269	51,114,599	2.66%	1.16%
2009	10,060,432	51,728,516	2.61%	1.2%
2010	10,317,553	52,344,051	2.56%	1.19%
2011	10,573,733	52,995,205	2.48%	1.24%
2012	10,829,901	53,782,567	2.42%	1.49%
2013	11,093,340	54,678,791	2.43%	1.67%
2014	11,364,757	55,594,838	2.45%	1.68%
2015	11,640,022	56,723,537	2.42%	2.03%
2016	11,919,183	57,259,551	2.4%	0.94%
2017	12,202,060	57,635,162	2.37%	0.66%
2018	12,487,996	58,613,001	2.34%	1.7%
2019	12,776,103	59,587,885	2.31%	1.66%
2020	13,065,837	60,562,381	2.27%	1.64%
2021	13,355,260	61,502,603	2.22%	1.55%
2022	13,651,030	62,378,410	2.21%	1.42%
2023	13,954,471	63,212,384	2.22%	1.34%
2024	14,256,567	64,007,187	2.16%	1.26%
2025	14,569,343	64,747,317	2.19%	1.16%
2026	14,889,694	65,453,086	2.2%	1.09%
2027	15,214,324	66,143,018	2.18%	1.05%
2028	15,536,461	66,830,384	2.12%	1.04%
2029	15,844,649	67,506,850	1.98%	1.01%
2030	16,154,698	68,161,357	1.96%	0.97%
2031	16,473,106	68,798,574	1.97%	0.93%
2032	16,771,820	69,426,441	1.81%	0.91%
2033	17,073,475	70,040,484	1.8%	0.88%
2034	17,402,250	70,641,572	1.93%	0.86%
2035	17,746,315	71,234,749	1.98%	0.84%
2036	18,076,769	71,816,372	1.86%	0.82%
2037	18,395,838	72,387,807	1.77%	0.8%
2038	18,729,778	72,949,611	1.82%	0.78%
2039	19,076,783	73,496,152	1.85%	0.75%
2040	19,440,762	74,035,615	1.91%	0.73%
2041	19,806,170	74,575,444	1.88%	0.73%
2042	20,153,979	75,111,899	1.76%	0.72%
2043	20,500,826	75,641,512	1.72%	0.71%
2044	20,837,079	76,164,461	1.64%	0.69%
2045	21,152,650	76,681,448	1.51%	0.68%
2046	21,459,144	77,199,542	1.45%	0.68%
2047	21,764,578	77,716,650	1.42%	0.67%
2048	22,086,112	78,215,323	1.48%	0.64%
2049	22,403,887	78,699,584	1.44%	0.62%
2050	22,707,896	79,177,329	1.36%	0.61%

From 2006 to 2016, the population of Rwanda increased by 2,619,937 people (a 28.2% growth), while South Africa gained 7,261,274 people (a 14.5% growth).

For the next 10 years, from 2016 to 2026, Rwanda gained 2,974,058 (a 25% growth), while South Africa's population increased by 8,201,075 (a 14.3% growth).

Rwanda was ranked 86th most populous country in 2006 and is 77th in 2026. South Africa was ranked 24th in 2006 and still ranked 24th now.

The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 24 years (in 2050) Rwanda's population will grow by 52.5% to 22,707,896 people with a rank change from 77th to 72nd. The population of South Africa will increase by 21% to 79,177,329 people and rank change from 24th to 23rd.