Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa
South Africa: Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet was 61.7% in 2024. ▬ Flat
Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa, 2017–2024
Source: FAO and World Bank (2025), using data and methods from Bai et al. (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa is 61.7%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.5% over ten years.
South Africa ranks 29th of 150 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 60.8% | — |
| 2018 | 60.2% | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 60.2% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 61.8% | +2.7% |
| 2021 | 61.1% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 61.0% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 61.7% | +1.1% |
| 2024 | 61.7% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 60.4% | 60.2% | 60.8% | 3 |
| 2020s | 61.5% | 61.0% | 61.8% | 5 |
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)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,152 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 3,333 deaths (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 share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa?
- Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet in South Africa was 61.7% in 2024, according to FAO and World Bank (2025), using data and methods from Bai et al. (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 61.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.2% in 2018.
- How does South Africa rank for share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet?
- South Africa ranks 29th out of 150 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from FAO and World Bank (2025), using data and methods from Bai et al. (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population that cannot afford a healthy diet. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of the total population unable to afford a healthy diet. A diet is considered unaffordable when the diet cost plus expenditures for basic non-food needs exceed income per capita per day.