South Africa, year by year

Every index this site holds for South Africa, in time order: 12 series across 1990–2025, each value as its source published it. The profile shows the latest snapshot; this is the record behind it.

HDI since 1990

0.635 → 0.717 (+0.082)

UNDP Human Development Report, 2023-24 edition. 33 annual values, none interpolated; hover any point for its year.

Twenty years here

The world report →

Life expectancy at birth53.9 → 66.3 (+12.4)

Internet users8 → 78 (+71)

Urban population61 → 64 (+3)

Births per woman2.51 → 2.21 (-0.30)

Renewable share of energy11 → 10 (-1)

Access to electricity81 → 90 (+9)

Infant mortality48 → 24 (-24)

CO2 emissions per person8.8 → 6.9 (-1.9)

Forest area15 → 14 (-1)

World Bank observations, first to last available year per indicator (roughly 2005–2024; each series has its own window).

All indexes, 1990–2025

36 years · 12 series · 3 values marked for checking

Year	HDI0–1	Life expectancy at birthyears	Internet users% of people	Urban population% of people	Births per womanbirths	Renewable share of energy% of energy	Access to electricity% of people	Infant mortalityper 1,000 births	CO2 emissions per persont/year	Forest area% of land	GDP per capitaUS$	GDP per capita, PPPintl $
1990	0.635	62.9	—	—	3.72	17	—	52	7.7	15.0	—	—
1991	0.643	63.0	0	52	3.62	18	—	50	7.3	14.9	—	—
1992	0.648	62.8	0	53	3.48	18	—	49	7.1	14.9	—	—
1993	0.652	62.6	0	53	3.37	19	—	48	7.0	14.9	—	—
1994	0.657	62.1	0	53	3.26	19	—	47	7.0	14.8	—	—
1995	0.660	61.6	1	53	3.17	18	—	46	7.3	14.8	—	—
1996	0.655	61.1	1	54	2.99	17	58	46	7.5	14.8	—	—
1997	0.650	60.5	2	54	2.73	17	69	45	7.7	14.8	—	—
1998	0.643	59.9	3	55	2.63	17	65	45	7.7	14.7	—	—
1999	0.638	59.2	4	55	2.56	18	71	46	7.3	14.7	—	—
2000	0.633	58.4	5	56	2.41	16	72	47	7.4	14.7	—	—
2001	0.629	57.2	6	57	2.37	15	70	47	7.5	14.6	—	—
2002	0.633	55.6	7	58	2.32	13	77	48	7.7	14.6	—	—
2003	0.629	54.3	7	58	2.36	12	79	48	8.1	14.6	—	—
2004	0.630	54.0	8	59	2.44	11	81	49	8.7	14.5	—	—
2005	0.632	53.9	7	60	2.51	10	81	48	8.8	14.5	—	—
2006	0.637	54.2	8	61	2.55	9	81	46	8.8	14.5	6077	11250
2007	0.644	55.0	8	61	2.55	9	82	44	9.1	14.4	6592	12047
2008	0.653	56.0	8	62	2.68	10	82	41	9.6	14.4	6185	12525
2009	0.665	57.4	10	62	2.50	9	83	38	8.8	14.4	6375	12261
2010	0.675	58.9	24	63	2.44	9	83	36	8.9	14.4	7973	12637
2011	0.686	60.6	34	63	2.44	9	84	35	8.4	14.3	8646	13143
2012	0.696	61.7	41	63	2.45	8	85	33	8.6	14.3	8077	12987
2013	0.705	62.4	47	63	2.43	8	85	32	8.7	14.3	7332	13369
2014	0.714	63.2	49	63	2.42	8	86	31	8.8	14.2	6857	13359
2015	0.721	64.0	52	63	2.36	8	85	29	8.2	14.2	6112	13398
2016	0.711	64.8	54	63	2.26	8	84	28	8.0	14.2	5651	13519
2017	0.725	65.4	56	63	2.28	8	84	27	8.2	14.2	6618	13738
2018	0.731	65.7	62	63	2.27	8	85	26	8.1	14.1	6914	13347
2019	0.741	66.1	70	63	2.26	9	85	25	8.0	14.1	6534	13361
2020	0.722	65.2	72	63	2.26	10	90	25	7.4	14.1	5581	12671
2021	0.721	62.0	75	63	2.25	10	89	24	7.3	14.0	6829	13682
2022	0.717	65.5	78	63	2.23	—	87	24	6.9	14.0	6534	14747
2023	—	66.1	78	64	2.22	—	88	24	6.8	14.0	6034	15212
2024	—	66.3	78	64	2.21	—	90	24	6.9	—	6267	15479
2025	—	—	—	64	—	—	—	—	—	—	6598	15906
Profile shows	0.717	66.3	78	64	2.21	10	—	—	6.9	14.0	6598	15906

Sources: HDI — UNDP HDR 2023-24; Life expectancy at birth — World Bank SP.DYN.LE00.IN; Internet users — World Bank IT.NET.USER.ZS; Urban population — World Bank SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS; Births per woman — World Bank SP.DYN.TFRT.IN; Renewable share of energy — World Bank EG.FEC.RNEW.ZS; Access to electricity — World Bank EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS; Infant mortality — World Bank SP.DYN.IMRT.IN; CO2 emissions per person — World Bank EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5; Forest area — World Bank AG.LND.FRST.ZS; GDP per capita — World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.CD; GDP per capita, PPP — World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD. Profile snapshot from the site dataset regenerated 2026-09-01. Observed years only; IMF projections are excluded.

A dotted value moved sharply against the previous observed value in its series, which is the usual signature of a series break or a source revision; it is a prompt to check, not a judgement. In the last row, ≠ means the profile’s current figure differs from the latest value here by more than 2%: none do on this page.

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