Trend of Life Expectancy at Birth for South Africa

Updated on March 17, 2026.

According to data from the World Bank, in 2023, the total life expectancy at birth for South Africa was 66.14 years. A difference of +0.69 compared to 2022. The most recent figures on male and female life expectancies at birth for South Africa were 62.61 years and 69.6 years respectively in 2023.

You can see similar information for other countries.

The World Bank defines life expectancy at birth as "the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future".

The chart and table below shows the total, male, and female life expectancies of South Africa for recent years.

You may also be interested in:
Infant Mortality Rate for South Africa

Data Source: World Bank.

Trend of Life Expectancy at Birth for South Africa (Years)

Total

Male

Female

Trend of Life Expectancy at Birth for South Africa (Years)

0 of 0

Year	Total (Yrs)	Male (Yrs)	Female (Yrs)
1960	52.58	50.82	54.58
1961	53.07	51.19	55.22
1962	53.57	51.71	55.68
1963	53.9	51.99	56.05
1964	54.22	52.31	56.36
1965	54.43	52.49	56.6
1966	54.73	52.76	56.92
1967	54.96	52.93	57.2
1968	55.19	53.12	57.48
1969	55.44	53.32	57.77
1970	55.68	53.5	58.08
1971	56.02	53.82	58.43
1972	56.38	54.22	58.73
1973	56.72	54.58	59.05
1974	57.11	54.97	59.44
1975	57.59	55.48	59.89
1976	58	55.79	60.41
1977	58.48	56.16	61.02
1978	58.99	56.64	61.57
1979	59.47	57.06	62.12
1980	59.96	57.45	62.73
1981	60.45	57.89	63.26
1982	60.94	58.31	63.83
1983	61.39	58.69	64.36
1984	61.84	59.03	64.92
1985	62.2	59.23	65.47
1986	62.42	59.31	65.89
1987	62.69	59.54	66.21
1988	62.9	59.6	66.63
1989	63.02	59.65	66.83
1990	62.94	59.48	66.89
1991	62.98	59.5	66.97
1992	62.84	59.37	66.81
1993	62.62	59.11	66.5
1994	62.07	58.8	65.99
1995	61.6	58.28	65.16
1996	61.08	57.78	64.46
1997	60.54	57.22	63.66
1998	59.91	56.72	62.9
1999	59.19	56.11	62.05
2000	58.37	55.42	61.08
2001	57.16	54.58	59.49
2002	55.58	53.22	57.7
2003	54.25	51.99	56.27
2004	53.96	51.92	55.75
2005	53.91	52.09	55.47
2006	54.22	52.23	55.93
2007	54.95	52.72	56.89
2008	55.98	53.51	58.15
2009	57.41	54.82	59.69
2010	58.89	56.2	61.24
2011	60.6	57.74	63.14
2012	61.74	58.71	64.43
2013	62.39	59.23	65.24
2014	63.18	59.91	66.18
2015	64.05	60.8	67.03
2016	64.75	61.33	67.92
2017	65.42	61.98	68.58
2018	65.73	62.3	68.91
2019	66.07	62.7	69.22
2020	65.15	62.17	67.95
2021	62.01	59.19	64.77
2022	65.45	61.81	69.04
2023	66.14	62.61	69.6