South Africa: life expectancy 1870-2020| ��ƽ��

Life expectancy (from birth) in South Africa from 1870 to 2020*

Characteristic	Life expectancy in years
2020	63.62
2015	60.95
2010	54.7
2005	53.9
2000	58.97
1995	63.25
1990	62.26
1985	59.36
1980	56.85
1975	53.99
1970	51.37
1965	49.31
1960	47.42
1955**	44.83
1950	45.3
1945	42.46
1940	39.64
1935	36.84
1930	35.12
1925	34.96
1920	30.18
1915	34.7
1910	34.56
1905	34.42
1900	34.28
1895	34.14
1890	34
1885	33.86
1880	33.74
1875	33.58
1870	33.5

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Release date

August 2019

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Region

South Africa

Survey time period

1870 to 2020

Supplementary notes

*All data given is an average of the preceding five year period.
**The discrepancy in the figures between 1950 and 1955 is due to the transition from Gapminder data (1870-1950) to UN data (1955-2020).
Data for the second source can be found .

Citation formats

In 1870, the average life expectancy in South Africa was 33.5 years from birth. This life expectancy would remain largely unchanged until the late-1910s, where life expectancy would drop to as low as thirty years as a result of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. In the 1930s, life expectancy in South Africa would begin to steadily rise, peaking at over 63 years in 1995, as industrialization and greater access to healthcare and vaccinations led to significantly reduced child mortality rates across the region. However, life expectancy experienced a sudden drop beginning after 1995, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic spread throughout the country, beginning in the early 1990s. As the epidemic spread through the country, life expectancy would fall by almost 10 years, bottoming out below 54 years in 2005. Life expectancy would begin to rise again beginning in the early 2010s however, as access to HIV counselling and treatments, such as antiretroviral therapy, became more widely available throughout the region. Life expectancy in the country is estimated to be almost 64 years from birth in 2020; a return to the pre-HIV figures of the early 1990s.