Causes of mortality in South Africa
South Africa: Causes of mortality was 487,682 Deaths in 2020. ▲ Rising
Causes of mortality in South Africa, 1993–2020
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Deaths.
Analysis
In 2020, causes of mortality in South Africa stood at 487,682 Deaths.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.2% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, causes of mortality in South Africa peaked at 605,480 Deaths in 2006 and was at its lowest, 240,660 Deaths, in 1993.
That places South Africa 10th out of 36 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Causes of mortality in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 240,660 Deaths | — |
| 1994 | 280,963 Deaths | +16.7% |
| 1995 | 286,418 Deaths | +1.9% |
| 1996 | 290,833 Deaths | +1.5% |
| 1997 | 315,487 Deaths | +8.5% |
| 1998 | 363,135 Deaths | +15.1% |
| 1999 | 378,922 Deaths | +4.3% |
| 2000 | 412,060 Deaths | +8.7% |
| 2001 | 451,279 Deaths | +9.5% |
| 2002 | 497,577 Deaths | +10.3% |
| 2003 | 550,903 Deaths | +10.7% |
| 2004 | 565,953 Deaths | +2.7% |
| 2005 | 589,534 Deaths | +4.2% |
| 2006 | 605,480 Deaths | +2.7% |
| 2007 | 600,155 Deaths | -0.9% |
| 2008 | 591,285 Deaths | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 571,620 Deaths | -3.3% |
| 2010 | 542,785 Deaths | -5.0% |
| 2011 | 512,378 Deaths | -5.6% |
| 2012 | 488,968 Deaths | -4.6% |
| 2013 | 456,935 Deaths | -6.6% |
| 2014 | 451,439 Deaths | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 458,243 Deaths | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 470,093 Deaths | +2.6% |
| 2017 | 458,497 Deaths | -2.5% |
| 2018 | 452,345 Deaths | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 459,155 Deaths | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 487,682 Deaths | +6.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 308,060 Deaths | 240,660 Deaths | 378,922 Deaths | 7 |
| 2000s | 543,585 Deaths | 412,060 Deaths | 605,480 Deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 475,084 Deaths | 451,439 Deaths | 542,785 Deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 487,682 Deaths | 487,682 Deaths | 487,682 Deaths | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More health data for South Africa
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.2 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.1386 % change on previous year (2090)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates 1,152 (2090)
- Un projection of annual infant deaths 3,333 (2100)
- Population ages 0-14, female, annual growth rate 0.4769 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female, per capita 0.1279 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, annual growth rate 0.5816 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, per capita 0.1293 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is causes of mortality in South Africa?
- Causes of mortality in South Africa was 487,682 Deaths in 2020, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest causes of mortality recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 605,480 Deaths in 2006.
- What is the lowest causes of mortality recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 240,660 Deaths in 1993.
- How does South Africa rank for causes of mortality?
- South Africa ranks 10th out of 36 countries with data for 2020.
- Is causes of mortality rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Causes of mortality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
This dataset presents the number of deaths and age-standardised death rates by causes of deaths. The number of deaths according to sex and selected causes are extracted from the World Health Organization Mortality Database available at https://www.who.int/data/data-collection-tools/who-mortality-database. Detailed information on the coverage and reliability of the cause-of-death data is regularly published in World Health Statistics Annuals. The selected causes of death presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.