Population in South Africa compared to the United Kingdom: Trends, Charts, Rankings

South Africa and the United Kingdom: population history and growth rate by year chart

Table

Year	Population		Growth rate
	South Africa	United Kingdom	South Africa	United Kingdom
1960	16,440,172	52,400,000	-	-
1961	16,908,035	52,800,000	2.85%	0.76%
1962	17,418,522	53,250,000	3.02%	0.85%
1963	17,954,564	53,650,000	3.08%	0.75%
1964	18,511,361	54,000,000	3.1%	0.65%
1965	19,089,380	54,348,050	3.12%	0.64%
1966	19,690,087	54,648,500	3.15%	0.55%
1967	20,314,066	54,943,600	3.17%	0.54%
1968	20,957,287	55,211,700	3.17%	0.49%
1969	21,614,676	55,441,750	3.14%	0.42%
1970	22,279,984	55,663,250	3.08%	0.4%
1971	22,942,143	55,896,223	2.97%	0.42%
1972	23,609,456	56,086,065	2.91%	0.34%
1973	24,294,263	56,194,527	2.9%	0.19%
1974	24,989,108	56,229,974	2.86%	0.06%
1975	25,690,940	56,225,800	2.81%	-0.007%
1976	26,395,450	56,211,968	2.74%	-0.02%
1977	27,118,952	56,193,492	2.74%	-0.03%
1978	27,869,507	56,196,504	2.77%	0.005%
1979	28,634,162	56,246,951	2.74%	0.09%
1980	29,518,857	56,314,216	3.09%	0.12%
1981	30,541,044	56,333,829	3.46%	0.03%
1982	31,615,339	56,313,641	3.52%	-0.04%
1983	32,739,304	56,332,848	3.56%	0.03%
1984	33,892,788	56,422,072	3.52%	0.16%
1985	35,042,093	56,550,268	3.39%	0.23%
1986	36,180,515	56,681,396	3.25%	0.23%
1987	37,326,190	56,802,050	3.17%	0.21%
1988	38,480,649	56,928,327	3.09%	0.22%
1989	39,628,575	57,076,711	2.98%	0.26%
1990	40,746,268	57,247,586	2.82%	0.3%
1991	41,687,898	57,424,897	2.31%	0.31%
1992	42,443,509	57,580,402	1.81%	0.27%
1993	43,297,156	57,718,614	2.01%	0.24%
1994	44,004,139	57,865,745	1.63%	0.25%
1995	44,541,554	58,019,030	1.22%	0.26%
1996	45,123,018	58,166,950	1.31%	0.25%
1997	45,666,838	58,316,954	1.21%	0.26%
1998	46,223,880	58,487,141	1.22%	0.29%
1999	46,730,335	58,682,466	1.1%	0.33%
2000	47,159,719	58,892,514	0.92%	0.36%
2001	47,566,800	59,119,673	0.86%	0.39%
2002	48,019,415	59,370,479	0.95%	0.42%
2003	48,500,348	59,647,577	1%	0.47%
2004	48,991,421	59,987,905	1.01%	0.57%
2005	49,490,033	60,401,206	1.02%	0.69%
2006	49,998,277	60,846,820	1.03%	0.74%
2007	50,528,584	61,322,463	1.06%	0.78%
2008	51,114,599	61,806,995	1.16%	0.79%
2009	51,728,516	62,276,270	1.2%	0.76%
2010	52,344,051	62,766,365	1.19%	0.79%
2011	52,995,205	63,258,810	1.24%	0.78%
2012	53,782,567	63,711,000	1.49%	0.71%
2013	54,678,791	64,139,000	1.67%	0.67%
2014	55,594,838	64,620,000	1.68%	0.75%
2015	56,723,537	65,088,000	2.03%	0.72%
2016	57,259,551	65,607,000	0.94%	0.8%
2017	57,635,162	65,966,000	0.66%	0.55%
2018	58,613,001	66,289,000	1.7%	0.49%
2019	59,587,885	66,631,000	1.66%	0.52%
2020	60,562,381	66,744,000	1.64%	0.17%
2021	61,502,603	66,984,000	1.55%	0.36%
2022	62,378,410	67,604,000	1.42%	0.93%
2023	63,212,384	68,492,000	1.34%	1.31%
2024	64,007,187	69,226,000	1.26%	1.07%
2025	64,747,317	69,639,673	1.16%	0.6%
2026	65,453,086	70,020,350	1.09%	0.55%
2027	66,143,018	70,382,853	1.05%	0.52%
2028	66,830,384	70,732,699	1.04%	0.5%
2029	67,506,850	71,061,482	1.01%	0.46%
2030	68,161,357	71,377,535	0.97%	0.44%
2031	68,798,574	71,678,351	0.93%	0.42%
2032	69,426,441	71,959,934	0.91%	0.39%
2033	70,040,484	72,234,509	0.88%	0.38%
2034	70,641,572	72,497,650	0.86%	0.36%
2035	71,234,749	72,749,096	0.84%	0.35%
2036	71,816,372	72,990,847	0.82%	0.33%
2037	72,387,807	73,218,850	0.8%	0.31%
2038	72,949,611	73,441,349	0.78%	0.3%
2039	73,496,152	73,658,392	0.75%	0.3%
2040	74,035,615	73,868,334	0.73%	0.29%
2041	74,575,444	74,074,316	0.73%	0.28%
2042	75,111,899	74,275,779	0.72%	0.27%
2043	75,641,512	74,475,035	0.71%	0.27%
2044	76,164,461	74,667,284	0.69%	0.26%
2045	76,681,448	74,848,605	0.68%	0.24%
2046	77,199,542	75,020,949	0.68%	0.23%
2047	77,716,650	75,184,478	0.67%	0.22%
2048	78,215,323	75,337,543	0.64%	0.2%
2049	78,699,584	75,476,141	0.62%	0.18%
2050	79,177,329	75,600,588	0.61%	0.16%

From 2005 to 2015, the population of South Africa increased by 7,233,504 people (a 14.6% growth), while the United Kingdom gained 4,686,794 people (a 7.76% growth).

For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, South Africa gained 8,590,709 (a 15.1% growth), while the United Kingdom's population increased by 4,857,462 (a 7.46% growth).

South Africa was ranked 24th most populous country in 2005 and is still 24th in 2025. The United Kingdom was ranked 21st in 2005 and ranked 22nd now.

The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) South Africa's population will grow by 21.2% to 79,177,329 people with a rank change from 24th to 23rd. The population of the United Kingdom will increase by 8.09% to 75,600,588 people and rank change from 22nd to 26th.