Digital 2021: South Africa

Apr 12, 2021

2 min read

South Africa's Population

South Africa had a population of 59.67 million in January 2021.
South Africa’s population increased by 741 thousand (+1.3%) between January 2020 and January 2021.
50.7% of South Africa’s population is female, while 49.3% of its population is male [note: the United Nations does not publish data for genders other than ‘female’ and ‘male’].
67.6% of South Africa’s population lives in urban centres, while 32.4% lives in rural areas.

Internet users in South Africa

There were 38.19 million internet users in South Africa in January 2021.
The number of internet users in South Africa increased by 1.7 million (+4.5%) between 2020 and 2021.
Internet penetration in South Africa stood at 64.0% in January 2021.

Note: we no longer include data sourced from social media platforms in our internet user numbers, so the numbers are shown above and in our complete Digital 2021 reports are not comparable with numbers published in our reports from previous years.

Social media statistics for South Africa

There were 25.00 million social media users in South Africa in January 2021.
The number of social media users in South Africa increased by 3.0 million (+14%) between 2020 and 2021.
The number of social media users in South Africa was equivalent to 41.9% of the total population in January 2021.

Note: Figures for social media users shown here and in our complete Digital 2021 reports may not equate to unique individuals. We have also included new sources in this year’s social media figures, so numbers shown here and in our Digital 2021 reports will not be comparable with numbers published in our previous reports.

Mobile connections in South Africa

There were 100.6 million mobile connections in South Africa in January 2021.
The number of mobile connections in South Africa increased by 817 thousand (+0.8%) between January 2020 and January 2021.
The number of mobile connections in South Africa in January 2021 was equivalent to 168.5% of the total population.