South Africa data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about South Africa's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of South Africa?
South Africa had 64,747,319 people in 2025, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The national figure comes from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), which publishes Mid-year population estimates (release P0302) every year, with breakdowns by province, age, sex and population group.
Stats SA's website blocks automated reading, so its 2026 estimate is not quoted here; check the P0302 release directly. The two totals differ because the World Bank harmonises national data to a common method and reference date. For local detail, Stats SA also publishes national census results, which are the base that mid-year estimates are projected from.
What is South Africa's GDP and is the economy growing?
Real GDP fell by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026, after growth of 0.4% in the first quarter, according to Statistics South Africa figures reported by the government news agency SAnews on 8 September 2026. Trade, catering and accommodation fell by 1.9%, taking 0.2 of a percentage point off growth.
In dollar terms the World Bank puts South Africa's GDP at US$427.2 billion in 2025 (current prices). Stats SA's quarterly headline compares one quarter with the previous quarter after seasonal adjustment, so it is not the same as annual growth. The full tables are in Stats SA's GDP release (P0441).
What is the inflation rate in South Africa?
Consumer price inflation was 4.4% in the year to August 2026, according to the South African Reserve Bank's key indicators, which republish Statistics South Africa's headline CPI (series CPI1000F). Producer price inflation was 5.0% over the same period.
CPI is compiled and released monthly by Stats SA in its Consumer Price Index release (P0141), which also gives the contribution of each spending category, such as food, housing and transport. The SARB's Monetary Policy Committee uses headline CPI when it sets the repo rate. Annual rates compare a month with the same month a year earlier, so one unusual month a year ago can move the figure.
What is the average salary in South Africa?
Statistics South Africa publishes average monthly earnings for formal, non-agricultural employees every quarter in its Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, release P0277). Stats SA's website could not be read automatically on 13 October 2026, so the latest figure is not quoted here.
The QES average is a mean, calculated from employers' payroll returns, so a small number of high earners pulls it above what a typical worker earns. It does not cover agriculture, domestic work or informal jobs. For take-home pay, the income tax tables published by SARS show how much tax applies at each income level.
What is the unemployment rate in South Africa?
The official unemployment rate was 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.9 percentage points from 32.7% in the first quarter, according to Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey as reported by SAnews on 11 August 2026. The number of unemployed people rose by 345,000 to 8.5 million, while employment fell by 16,000 to 16.7 million. Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 34) was 47.4%.
The official rate counts people without work who looked for a job in the past four weeks. Stats SA also publishes an expanded rate that adds discouraged work-seekers, which is higher. Full tables are in the QLFS release (P0211).
What is South Africa's GDP per capita?
South Africa's GDP per person was US$6,597.71 in 2025, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The figure divides GDP at current prices, converted to US dollars, by the mid-year population.
Because it uses market exchange rates, the dollar figure rises and falls with the rand as well as with output. For comparisons of living standards between countries, the World Bank also publishes GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, which adjusts for price differences. The rand figures behind both measures come from Statistics South Africa's national accounts.
What is the rand exchange rate today?
On 13 October 2026 the South African Reserve Bank's key indicators gave R16.4601 per US dollar, R21.7850 per British pound and R18.4090 per euro. The nominal effective exchange rate index stood at 100.49.
These are reference rates published by the SARB for the day, not the rates a bank or bureau will offer, which include a margin. The rand floats freely, so rates move through the day. The SARB's statistics pages hold the historical daily series, and the effective exchange rate measures the rand against a basket of trading-partner currencies.
What are the income tax rates in South Africa?
For the 2027 tax year (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027), personal income tax runs from 18% on taxable income up to R245,100 to 45% on income above R1,878,600, according to SARS. The bands in between are taxed at 26%, 31%, 36%, 39% and 41%.
The rates are marginal: each rate applies only to the slice of income within its band, and SARS lists the fixed amount due on lower bands, for example R259,783 plus 41% of income above R887,000. Rebates and tax thresholds, published on the same page, reduce the tax actually payable. Rates change with the national budget, usually announced in February.
What is the interest rate in South Africa?
The South African Reserve Bank's policy rate (the repo rate) was 7.25% on 13 October 2026, and the prime lending rate was 10.75%, according to the SARB's key indicators. Prime sits 3.5 percentage points above the repo rate.
The repo rate is set by the SARB's Monetary Policy Committee, whose statements and meeting dates are on the monetary policy pages. Banks price most home loans and overdrafts off prime, so a change in the repo rate passes through to borrowers quickly. Savings and fixed-deposit rates vary by bank and are not set by the SARB.
What is the minimum wage in South Africa?
The national minimum wage rose from R28.79 to R30.23 for each ordinary hour worked from 1 March 2026, according to the Minister of Employment and Labour's announcement reported by SAnews on 4 February 2026. Farm and domestic workers receive the same rate.
Workers on the Expanded Public Works Programme have a separate minimum, which rose from R15.16 to R16.62 an hour. The rate is hourly, so monthly pay depends on hours worked. The Department of Employment and Labour publishes the gazetted rates and handles complaints about underpayment.
What were the results of South Africa's last election?
In the national election of May 2024, the African National Congress won 159 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, the Democratic Alliance 87, the uMkhonto weSizwe party 58 and the Economic Freedom Fighters 39, according to SAnews. The Inkatha Freedom Party won 17 seats and the Patriotic Alliance 9. Turnout was 58.61%.
No party won a majority. Seats are allocated by proportional representation from party votes. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) publishes full national, provincial, municipal and by-election results on its results portal, including breakdowns by province and voting district.
What is the birth rate in South Africa?
South Africa's crude birth rate was 18.48 births per 1,000 people in 2024, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The total fertility rate was 2.205 births per woman in the same year, close to the replacement level of about 2.1.
Statistics South Africa publishes the national counts in its Recorded live births release (P0305), based on birth registrations with the Department of Home Affairs. Registrations include late registrations of births from earlier years, so the yearly count is not the same as the number of babies born that year.
What is South Africa's government debt?
General government gross debt was 78.4% of GDP in 2025, according to the IMF's World Economic Outlook database. The IMF marks recent years as estimates that can be revised.
National Treasury publishes the government's own figures in the annual Budget Review and the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on its website. Treasury's headline measure is gross loan debt of national government, which differs in coverage from the IMF's general government measure, so the two percentages are not interchangeable. Monthly debt figures appear in Treasury's statements of national revenue, expenditure and borrowing.
What is the crime rate in South Africa?
The South African Police Service (SAPS) publishes official crime statistics every quarter, counted by the government's April-to-March financial year. The first-quarter statistics for 2026/27 (April to June 2026) were released on 28 August 2026, according to a government media advisory. The SAPS crime statistics page could not be reached on 13 October 2026, so no figures are quoted here.
The statistics count crimes reported to or detected by the police, so changes can reflect reporting as well as crime. Household victim surveys by Statistics South Africa ask people directly about crimes they experienced, including those not reported to the police.
What is the life expectancy in South Africa?
Life expectancy at birth in South Africa was 66.3 years in 2024, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators.
Statistics South Africa publishes its own estimates for men and women each year in the Mid-year population estimates (P0302), which also report infant mortality. Life expectancy at birth is a summary of death rates at every age in one year, not a forecast of how long a baby born today will live. Figures from different publishers can differ by a year or more because of modelling choices.
Source guides
- Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)
- South African Reserve Bank (SARB)
- Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)
- Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.