Sub-region · UN WPP 2024

Southern Africa population

Southern Africa population now

75,072,658

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 72,197,701

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 74.8689 million
Median age: 29.1
Aged 65+: 6.7%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024

male female projection · one cell = 10,000 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

AGG · 1950–2100 · in brief

Southern Africa in numbers

The UN counts 72,197,701 people in Southern Africa in mid-2023, and 0.89% of the world's people. That is 4.9 times its 1950 population of 14.8 million. It covers 5 countries and areas; the largest are South Africa (87.6%), Namibia (4.1%), Botswana (3.4%), Lesotho (3.2%) and Eswatini (1.7%).

In the UN's medium projection it is still growing in 2100, when it reaches 109 million.

Births outnumber deaths in every year from 1950 to 2100, estimates and projection alike.

The median age was 20.1 in 1950 and 28.4 in 2023; the projection has 39.4 in 2100. 6.2% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 18.7% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is still growing in 2100 in the medium projection.

Population, mid-2023: 72,197,701
Share of the world, 2023: 0.89%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +1.38% · +984,710 people
Births, 2023: 1,410,152
Deaths, 2023: 650,580
Net migration, 2023: +219,693
Children per woman, 2023: 2.30
Median age, 2023: 28.4 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 66.0 years
Population, mid-1950: 14,817,985
Projected, mid-2050: 91,625,466
Projected, mid-2100: 108,649,394

AGG · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

estimates | projections020 m40 m60 m80 m100 m120 m1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection (medium). Every column stands for a single year, counted on 1 January, and the paper rules slice it into cells of equal size.

Show the numbers: Southern Africa, 1950–2100

Southern Africa: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	14,670,970	612,926	320,456	6.03	43.2
1951	estimate	14,965,001	627,470	314,191	6.06	44.1
1952	estimate	15,278,680	641,418	308,270	6.08	45.0
1953	estimate	15,608,250	654,980	302,569	6.09	46.0
1954	estimate	15,946,398	667,857	296,323	6.11	47.0
1955	estimate	16,304,922	681,825	290,525	6.13	48.0
1956	estimate	16,682,634	695,169	284,908	6.14	49.0
1957	estimate	17,079,267	709,551	280,052	6.14	49.9
1958	estimate	17,496,753	724,939	275,675	6.15	50.8
1959	estimate	17,923,115	737,211	273,351	6.14	51.5
1960	estimate	18,383,339	753,065	271,697	6.12	52.1
1961	estimate	18,875,938	772,344	272,536	6.10	52.6
1962	estimate	19,426,326	793,605	274,068	6.07	53.1
1963	estimate	20,008,968	817,648	277,783	6.04	53.5
1964	estimate	20,615,535	840,379	281,619	5.99	53.8
1965	estimate	21,244,966	863,751	286,710	5.94	54.0
1966	estimate	21,889,090	899,050	291,703	5.95	54.3
1967	estimate	22,563,398	925,838	297,447	5.90	54.6
1968	estimate	23,264,714	951,695	302,717	5.84	54.9
1969	estimate	23,983,376	978,318	307,820	5.78	55.1
1970	estimate	24,718,501	1,000,427	312,672	5.71	55.4
1971	estimate	25,458,847	1,026,926	316,342	5.65	55.8
1972	estimate	26,206,426	1,047,901	319,330	5.58	56.1
1973	estimate	26,985,798	1,068,154	322,367	5.51	56.5
1974	estimate	27,788,869	1,082,339	324,457	5.41	56.9
1975	estimate	28,599,699	1,097,617	324,941	5.32	57.4
1976	estimate	29,427,636	1,111,393	326,244	5.21	57.8
1977	estimate	30,246,498	1,121,405	325,971	5.09	58.3
1978	estimate	31,113,393	1,138,978	325,663	5.01	58.8
1979	estimate	31,990,009	1,164,819	326,141	4.97	59.3
1980	estimate	32,894,186	1,191,428	328,176	4.93	59.7
1981	estimate	33,987,698	1,226,263	331,359	4.86	60.2
1982	estimate	35,149,140	1,271,727	335,142	4.83	60.7
1983	estimate	36,377,458	1,308,216	339,988	4.76	61.2
1984	estimate	37,655,186	1,347,795	343,933	4.69	61.6
1985	estimate	38,949,228	1,380,964	349,135	4.62	62.0
1986	estimate	40,233,777	1,399,483	355,548	4.53	62.2
1987	estimate	41,512,454	1,427,554	361,240	4.46	62.5
1988	estimate	42,808,439	1,420,259	367,134	4.29	62.6
1989	estimate	44,122,480	1,404,061	373,411	4.10	62.7
1990	estimate	45,479,584	1,369,668	383,895	3.86	62.6
1991	estimate	46,727,197	1,370,620	394,066	3.75	62.6
1992	estimate	47,664,615	1,347,369	405,990	3.62	62.4
1993	estimate	48,538,493	1,352,282	419,938	3.50	62.1
1994	estimate	49,659,668	1,279,734	443,820	3.38	61.5
1995	estimate	50,179,103	1,333,430	461,945	3.28	60.9
1996	estimate	50,949,759	1,312,572	479,617	3.10	60.3
1997	estimate	51,584,832	1,283,778	497,481	2.86	59.7
1998	estimate	52,260,285	1,262,914	522,356	2.76	59.0
1999	estimate	52,902,167	1,254,753	550,710	2.69	58.2
2000	estimate	53,463,264	1,211,979	580,283	2.56	57.3
2001	estimate	53,938,885	1,207,487	622,629	2.51	56.1
2002	estimate	54,437,155	1,201,929	673,710	2.46	54.7
2003	estimate	54,979,382	1,234,280	725,043	2.49	53.5
2004	estimate	55,511,231	1,281,592	746,800	2.55	53.3
2005	estimate	56,058,641	1,323,806	765,291	2.62	53.2
2006	estimate	56,598,536	1,359,757	774,767	2.65	53.6
2007	estimate	57,189,823	1,373,921	765,773	2.65	54.3
2008	estimate	57,814,893	1,454,659	749,163	2.76	55.3
2009	estimate	58,537,621	1,391,843	723,097	2.60	56.7
2010	estimate	59,227,617	1,376,512	689,988	2.55	58.1
2011	estimate	59,962,129	1,389,689	662,500	2.54	59.6
2012	estimate	60,731,685	1,411,639	636,602	2.55	60.8
2013	estimate	61,756,425	1,420,715	632,421	2.53	61.5
2014	estimate	62,760,526	1,435,332	620,907	2.52	62.4
2015	estimate	63,830,292	1,416,509	604,674	2.46	63.3
2016	estimate	65,266,774	1,386,619	598,426	2.38	64.0
2017	estimate	65,160,164	1,380,414	585,432	2.39	64.7
2018	estimate	66,287,970	1,388,534	589,600	2.37	65.1
2019	estimate	67,396,031	1,397,763	594,028	2.36	65.5
2020	estimate	68,523,454	1,405,823	659,682	2.35	64.7
2021	estimate	69,647,530	1,413,721	821,136	2.34	61.7
2022	estimate	70,717,923	1,413,647	657,115	2.31	65.2
2023	estimate	71,708,059	1,410,152	650,580	2.30	66.0
2024	estimate	72,687,343	1,407,672	658,515	2.29	66.1
2025	projection	73,590,058	1,400,264	668,422	2.27	66.3
2026	projection	74,453,455	1,391,989	678,301	2.25	66.5
2027	projection	75,284,371	1,385,890	688,140	2.23	66.7
2028	projection	76,113,947	1,380,158	698,178	2.21	66.8
2029	projection	76,937,182	1,375,339	708,537	2.19	67.0
2030	projection	77,742,280	1,368,445	718,592	2.17	67.2
2031	projection	78,521,663	1,362,998	729,250	2.16	67.3
2032	projection	79,290,849	1,358,680	739,847	2.15	67.5
2033	projection	80,047,743	1,354,551	750,611	2.13	67.7
2034	projection	80,785,574	1,350,384	761,462	2.12	67.8
2035	projection	81,513,443	1,346,770	773,007	2.10	68.0
2036	projection	82,234,618	1,345,047	784,213	2.09	68.2
2037	projection	82,937,576	1,344,353	795,438	2.08	68.3
2038	projection	83,635,148	1,345,281	807,080	2.06	68.5
2039	projection	84,317,159	1,347,469	818,750	2.05	68.6
2040	projection	84,981,461	1,350,352	830,709	2.04	68.8
2041	projection	85,643,189	1,355,365	842,594	2.03	68.9
2042	projection	86,306,150	1,359,609	854,558	2.02	69.1
2043	projection	86,959,612	1,364,038	866,090	2.01	69.3
2044	projection	87,607,107	1,367,740	878,196	2.00	69.4
2045	projection	88,245,798	1,369,957	889,644	1.99	69.6
2046	projection	88,881,354	1,370,939	901,830	1.98	69.7
2047	projection	89,520,457	1,370,307	913,762	1.97	69.8
2048	projection	90,149,564	1,368,198	925,742	1.96	70.0
2049	projection	90,745,075	1,364,687	937,693	1.95	70.1
2050	projection	91,335,819	1,360,465	948,957	1.94	70.3
2051	projection	91,915,113	1,357,273	960,594	1.93	70.4
2052	projection	92,498,621	1,356,852	972,257	1.93	70.6
2053	projection	93,049,761	1,354,424	983,673	1.92	70.7
2054	projection	93,583,429	1,352,332	994,864	1.91	70.8
2055	projection	94,116,949	1,349,898	1,006,034	1.91	71.0
2056	projection	94,637,659	1,347,060	1,017,079	1.90	71.1
2057	projection	95,135,061	1,344,902	1,027,624	1.89	71.3
2058	projection	95,630,017	1,342,141	1,037,412	1.88	71.4
2059	projection	96,120,737	1,340,729	1,047,796	1.88	71.6
2060	projection	96,592,819	1,338,628	1,057,655	1.87	71.7
2061	projection	97,053,439	1,336,345	1,067,216	1.87	71.8
2062	projection	97,495,724	1,333,319	1,076,525	1.86	72.0
2063	projection	97,936,644	1,329,524	1,086,156	1.85	72.1
2064	projection	98,370,026	1,327,958	1,095,300	1.85	72.3
2065	projection	98,789,267	1,326,996	1,104,620	1.84	72.4
2066	projection	99,176,966	1,324,310	1,113,614	1.84	72.5
2067	projection	99,566,568	1,321,571	1,122,141	1.83	72.7
2068	projection	99,941,004	1,319,050	1,130,059	1.83	72.8
2069	projection	100,303,525	1,317,637	1,138,114	1.83	73.0
2070	projection	100,657,272	1,316,584	1,145,368	1.82	73.1
2071	projection	101,029,229	1,314,984	1,152,958	1.82	73.2
2072	projection	101,393,764	1,313,767	1,160,178	1.81	73.4
2073	projection	101,714,801	1,312,326	1,166,491	1.81	73.5
2074	projection	102,026,785	1,310,500	1,172,201	1.81	73.7
2075	projection	102,344,702	1,309,099	1,178,147	1.81	73.8
2076	projection	102,650,399	1,307,174	1,183,259	1.80	73.9
2077	projection	102,943,164	1,305,334	1,187,848	1.80	74.1
2078	projection	103,247,580	1,301,797	1,191,581	1.79	74.2
2079	projection	103,549,389	1,301,377	1,195,918	1.79	74.3
2080	projection	103,840,523	1,301,090	1,200,393	1.79	74.5
2081	projection	104,134,496	1,299,758	1,204,143	1.79	74.6
2082	projection	104,422,092	1,299,468	1,207,332	1.78	74.8
2083	projection	104,699,274	1,298,260	1,210,460	1.78	74.9
2084	projection	104,973,775	1,296,357	1,213,549	1.78	75.0
2085	projection	105,230,490	1,294,513	1,215,999	1.78	75.2
2086	projection	105,467,653	1,291,895	1,218,264	1.77	75.3
2087	projection	105,730,032	1,291,185	1,220,751	1.77	75.4
2088	projection	105,984,383	1,288,908	1,222,643	1.77	75.6
2089	projection	106,231,683	1,286,432	1,226,077	1.77	75.7
2090	projection	106,472,441	1,284,021	1,228,137	1.77	75.9
2091	projection	106,705,181	1,282,008	1,231,144	1.76	76.0
2092	projection	106,949,556	1,280,858	1,233,361	1.76	76.1
2093	projection	107,170,389	1,279,417	1,236,616	1.76	76.3
2094	projection	107,391,833	1,278,151	1,239,564	1.76	76.4
2095	projection	107,607,041	1,275,350	1,242,202	1.76	76.5
2096	projection	107,804,009	1,272,477	1,245,602	1.76	76.7
2097	projection	107,986,895	1,271,593	1,249,287	1.76	76.8
2098	projection	108,162,683	1,268,899	1,251,963	1.75	77.0
2099	projection	108,354,178	1,268,191	1,254,809	1.76	77.1
2100	projection	108,549,192	1,267,636	1,258,335	1.76	77.3

AGG · members

Countries and areas in Southern Africa

Southern Africa: member countries and areas, population mid-2023, share of the group and projected mid-2100
#	Country or area	Mid-2023	Share	Mid-2100, projected
1	South Africa	63,212,384	87.6%	94,314,448
2	Namibia	2,963,095	4.1%	5,897,944
3	Botswana	2,480,244	3.4%	3,836,824
4	Lesotho	2,311,472	3.2%	3,259,299
5	Eswatini	1,230,506	1.7%	1,340,879

Show the numbers: Southern Africa, mid-2026, by single year of age

Southern Africa: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	695,473	674,459
1	696,792	676,578
2	696,791	676,895
3	696,610	676,962
4	716,061	706,556
5	721,272	721,288
6	698,994	698,897
7	679,225	678,492
8	656,649	654,750
9	636,449	633,952
10	623,589	620,698
11	619,400	616,688
12	622,871	620,630
13	627,731	625,397
14	631,692	628,547
15	635,994	632,284
16	638,999	635,238
17	641,379	637,819
18	643,602	640,093
19	643,601	638,416
20	637,490	629,230
21	622,528	612,100
22	605,181	593,204
23	597,610	583,954
24	602,442	588,425
25	613,888	601,282
26	623,417	614,334
27	625,420	622,370
28	624,454	627,878
29	628,220	637,043
30	634,858	648,355
31	637,678	655,618
32	636,456	657,598
33	635,621	656,900
34	636,466	655,231
35	633,670	649,366
36	625,248	639,008
37	612,586	626,184
38	600,570	614,364
39	592,130	605,058
40	581,740	593,674
41	568,336	579,751
42	549,872	560,832
43	526,611	536,617
44	505,997	513,521
45	484,569	490,048
46	459,325	465,250
47	433,056	441,643
48	404,112	417,161
49	377,953	395,285
50	356,528	378,186
51	338,713	365,640
52	323,946	355,639
53	308,856	344,328
54	295,905	335,216
55	284,670	328,739
56	272,619	321,878
57	259,015	313,262
58	244,561	302,710
59	232,242	293,022
60	224,238	287,518
61	220,183	286,158
62	215,175	282,723
63	206,690	274,042
64	196,645	263,293
65	186,490	252,627
66	177,371	242,698
67	167,928	231,732
68	156,746	218,284
69	144,412	203,363
70	132,067	189,328
71	121,593	178,138
72	112,344	167,323
73	102,525	155,067
74	92,850	143,240
75	81,145	129,410
76	68,782	114,595
77	58,660	101,502
78	49,572	88,744
79	41,114	76,493
80	34,677	66,994
81	30,394	60,762
82	27,239	56,474
83	24,470	52,716
84	21,352	48,120
85	18,471	43,660
86	15,943	39,468
87	13,614	35,182
88	11,493	30,910
89	9,510	26,526
90	7,898	22,479
91	6,758	19,170
92	5,914	16,518
93	5,061	13,964
94	4,084	11,209
95	3,180	8,686
96	2,424	6,568
97	1,812	4,845
98	1,327	3,500
99	939	2,446
100+	1,966	5,106

AGG · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Southern Africa, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

AGG · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Southern Africa

In Southern Africa the number of people aged 15–64 is still growing in 2100, the last year the UN projects. In 2023 there were 48,119,500 of them.

100 aged 15–64

41 children

9 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: take 100 people of working age — the orange row — and the two rows under it are the children (teal) and the people of 65 and over (violet) who lived alongside them in 2023.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 25 years: 2024–2027 and 2033–2053.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: one stripe a year from 1950 to 2100. A stripe takes colour in a year when fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people of working age, and stays grey otherwise; hatching means the year is projected.

How every country compares

AGG · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Southern Africa, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 Southern Africa gains 267,886 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 20–24, at 67,649 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 10,000 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: age runs left to right, babies to 100. A blue square above the line means arrivals outnumber departures at that age, an orange square below it means the opposite. The figures are the UN's projection for 2020–2025; nobody recorded migration by age before 2020.

Across the counted years, 1950 to 2023, its biggest single-year gain was 624,638 (2015); its biggest loss, 894,767 (2016).

This is a group of countries, so its figure counts only moves across its own outer edge: someone moving from one country inside it to another does not appear.

How migration works everywhere

AGG · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Southern Africa

Of every 100 babies born in Southern Africa in 2023, 12 had a mother under 20, 70 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 18 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 9 under 20 and 21 aged 35 or older.

1950
9 · 70 · 21

2023
12 · 70 · 18

2050 · projected
11 · 68 · 21

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: one block a year, 100 squares in each, a square for every hundredth baby. The colour is the mother's age group, and the three numbers underneath are those groups in order, youngest first.

Babies born, 2023: 1,410,152
Average age when women have a baby: 28.3 years; 30.2 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 53; 77 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in Southern Africa by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	3,289	10,381	4,736	3,319	3,440	980
15–19	52,567	135,190	215,112	162,228	142,409	54,224
20–24	156,497	298,881	332,516	343,546	376,575	243,207
25–29	154,832	287,189	290,252	353,292	339,518	349,826
30–34	117,126	191,070	204,961	289,469	213,331	286,918
35–39	79,233	104,940	117,990	189,861	186,965	235,320
40–44	40,374	56,976	39,590	61,866	88,872	88,693
45–49	8,579	12,323	6,599	6,445	9,149	8,332
50–54	429	667	223	126	206	136
All babies	612,926	1,097,617	1,211,979	1,410,152	1,360,465	1,267,636

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual tables for regions and groups (estimates to 2023, then the medium projection), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UN WUP 2025 · Maddison Project 2020 · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The 5 countries listed were summed and checked against the UN's total for every year. The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.