Population:
49,052,489
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.9% (male 7,093,328/female 7,061,579)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 16,275,424/female 15,984,181)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,075,117/female 1,562,860) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 24.4 years
male: 24.1 years
female: 24.8 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.281% (2009 est.)

Birth rate:
19.93 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate:
16.99 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 61% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 44.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.66 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 40.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.98 years
male: 49.81 years
female: 48.13 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.38 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
18.1% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
5.7 million (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
350,000 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2009)

Nationality:
noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African

Ethnic groups:
black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

Religions:
Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)

Languages:
IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2004)

Education expenditures:
5.4% of GDP (2006)