What is life expectancy in South Africa?

Life expectancy in South Africa was 66.14 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.

What is the highest life expectancy recorded in South Africa?

The highest recorded value was 66.14 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in South Africa?

The lowest recorded value was 43.11 years in 1950.

How does South Africa rank for life expectancy?

South Africa ranks 201st out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in South Africa?

Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this South Africa data come from?

The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Life expectancy in South Africa

Name: Life expectancy in South Africa
Creator: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

South Africa: Life expectancy was 66.14 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

66.14 years

Change on year

up 1.0%

World rank

201st

of 236 countries

All-time high

66.14 years

in 2023

All-time low

43.11 years

in 1950

Years of data

1950–2023

Life expectancy in South Africa, 1950–2023

Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 66.14 years for life expectancy in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in South Africa peaked at 66.14 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 43.11 years, in 1950.

That places South Africa 201st out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1950s	47.6 years	43.11 years	51.88 years	10
1960s	54.21 years	52.58 years	55.44 years	10
1970s	57.44 years	55.68 years	59.47 years	10
1980s	61.78 years	59.96 years	63.02 years	10
1990s	61.58 years	59.19 years	62.98 years	10
2000s	55.58 years	53.91 years	58.37 years	10
2010s	63.28 years	58.89 years	66.07 years	10
2020s	64.69 years	62.01 years	66.14 years	4

Countries ranked near South Africa

198 Kiribati 66.47 years compare
199 Zambia 66.35 years compare
200 Sudan 66.33 years compare
202 Papua New Guinea 66.13 years compare
203 Afghanistan 66.03 years compare
204 Djibouti 65.99 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for South Africa

Age population, age 09, male, interpolated 517,899 (2025)
Age population, age 13, female, interpolated 530,309 (2025)
Age population, age 12, male, interpolated 528,326 (2025)
Age population, age 12, female, interpolated 525,570 (2025)
Age population, age 11, male, interpolated 521,292 (2025)
Age population, age 11, female, interpolated 518,894 (2025)
Age population, age 10, male, interpolated 515,776 (2025)
Population, female 51.3% (2025)
Age population, age 08, male, interpolated 529,289 (2025)
Age population, age 09, female, interpolated 514,885 (2025)

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in South Africa?: Life expectancy in South Africa was 66.14 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectancy recorded in South Africa?: The highest recorded value was 66.14 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in South Africa?: The lowest recorded value was 43.11 years in 1950.
How does South Africa rank for life expectancy?: South Africa ranks 201st out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in South Africa?: Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa data come from?: The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.