# South Africa — national dossier

South Africa — economy, society, governance, health, education, technology, geography, resources and military in one sourced dossier: 47 indicators, each…

Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/ZAF
Updated: 2026-08-14 (latest domain refresh; each figure carries its own observation year)

## Overview

- Official name: Republic of South Africa
- Capital: Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town
- Region: Southern Africa, Africa
- Population: 55 m
- Area: 1,221,037 km²
- Languages: Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
- Currency: South African rand (ZAR)

A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Each figure shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Economy

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $427 B | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita | $6,598 | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| GDP growth | 1.1% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Inflation | 3.2% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Trade openness | 60.9% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |

## Society

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 65 m | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Life expectancy | 66.3 yrs | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Urban population | 63.8% | 2025 | World Development Indicators |
| Fertility rate | 2.2 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Literacy rate | 91.2% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Governance

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 67.5 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Political stability | 55.4 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Government effectiveness | 46.9 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Regulatory quality | 53.9 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Rule of law | 57.3 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |
| Control of corruption | 44.0 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) |

## Health

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 8.9% | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Physicians | 0.79 | 2022 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |
| Under-5 mortality | 35.1 | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Measles immunisation | 76.0% | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) |
| Safe drinking water | 68.0% | 2024 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) |

## Education

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 91.2% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Education spending | 6.0% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Primary enrolment | 101.8% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Secondary enrolment | 104.1% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Tertiary enrolment | 23.5% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |

## Technology

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 0.6% | 2022 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Researchers (per million) | 444 | 2022 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) |
| Internet users | 78.4% | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| Mobile subscriptions | 179 | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) |
| High-tech exports | 5.7% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |

## Geography

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 1,213,090 km² | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest area | 14.0% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural land | 79.4% | 2023 | World Development Indicators |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 6.9 | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Renewable energy | 9.7% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |

## Resources

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 7.3% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Oil rents | 0.4% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Mineral rents | 3.8% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Forest rents | 0.6% | 2021 | World Development Indicators |
| Electricity access | 90.2% | 2024 | World Development Indicators |
| Iron ore | 66 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Gold (mined) | 90 t | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |
| Phosphate rock | 2.2 Mt | 2025 | Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 |

## Military

| Metric | Value | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 0.7% | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Defense spending | $2.8 B | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |
| Armed forces | 89,000 | 2020 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) |

Every metric above is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md).

Machine-readable claims — every figure above as an addressable claim ID (TL:ZAF:<metric>:<year>) with value, source, license and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/ZAF.claims.json

History: "From the cradle of humankind and the early San, Khoekhoe and Bantu-speaking kingdoms, through Dutch and British colonisation, the trauma of apartheid, and the birth of a non-racial democracy in 1994." — the sourced chronicle is at https://terralore.co/country/ZAF/chronicle.md (6 eras, 28 events).

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Citation template: Terralore, "South Africa — national dossier", terralore.co/country/ZAF, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.