8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Africa / Southern Africa

Born in South Africa

About 1 in 111 people born in 2023 started life in South Africa. A boy can expect to live 63 years and a girl 70, up from 42 and 44 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 90% have basic drinking water.

1 in 111
odds of being born here
1.2 million births · Ranked 24th of 230
63 / 70
years of life, boys / girls
Was 42 / 44 in 1950
$4,456
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 131st of 203 · extrapolated
64%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 23 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 232 in every 1,000 births to 37.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth62.6 years for boys, 69.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 537.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year584,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.8World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles80%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV17.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year427 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year1 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.2.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.22UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 60 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
4%Poorest fifth
7%Second
11%Middle
19%Fourth
60%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $4,456 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth60% / 4% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment32.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.1% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming6% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed17% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment104% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Johannesburg, with 9.4 million people.

64%
live in cities
88%
have electricity at home
90%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Johannesburg9.4 million
Cape Town4.8 million
Durban3.3 million
Pretoria2.1 million
Soweto1.7 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English31%
Zulu24%
Xhosa18%
Afrikaans13%
Northern Sotho9%
English, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Tswana is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Gauteng20.5 million
Western Cape6.9 million
KwaZulu-Natal6.6 million
Eastern Cape3.5 million
Free State3.0 million
Mpumalanga2.5 million
North West2.1 million
Limpopo1.4 million
Northern Cape315,522

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 1.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United Kingdom, Australia, United States.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United Kingdom245,446
Australia213,447
United States161,507
Residents born abroad4.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited Kingdom (245,446), Australia (213,447), United States (161,507)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.0 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

82% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 14%.

82%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
14%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2020)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024102,595Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19509; the deadliest, in 1997, killed about 15 people (magnitude 5)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence5,554 between 1989 and 2021UCDP

Now live it.

Born in South Africa, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in South Africa

Elsewhere in Africa

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences