Infant mortality rate in South Africa

The infant mortality rate in South Africa was 24.2 per 1,000 live births in 2024. The value for 2024 is the lowest in the series, which starts in 1976.

Measure: Infant mortality rate (UN estimates) Unit: Deaths per 1,000 live births Data: 1976 to 2024 Source: World Bank
South Africa, 2024 24.2 Deaths per 1,000 live births
Change from 2023 −0.1per 1,000 live births 2023: 24.3 per 1,000 live births
World, 2024 27.7 per 1,000 live births Official aggregate
Median of G20 countries, 2024 4.7 per 1,000 live births Middle value of 19 countries
Position in 2024 58th of 196 See the full ranking

Infant mortality rate in South Africa over time

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South Africa World ×

Deaths per 1,000 live births. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Infant mortality rate (UN estimates) (deaths per 1,000 live births), 2000 to 2024
Period South AfricaWorld
2024 24.2 per 1,000 live births 27.7 per 1,000 live births
2023 24.3 per 1,000 live births 28.4 per 1,000 live births
2022 24.3 per 1,000 live births 29.3 per 1,000 live births
2021 24.3 per 1,000 live births 29.3 per 1,000 live births
2020 24.5 per 1,000 live births 29.1 per 1,000 live births
2019 25.1 per 1,000 live births 29.2 per 1,000 live births
2018 25.8 per 1,000 live births 29.6 per 1,000 live births
2017 26.8 per 1,000 live births 30.0 per 1,000 live births
2016 28.0 per 1,000 live births 30.6 per 1,000 live births
2015 29.3 per 1,000 live births 31.5 per 1,000 live births
2014 30.7 per 1,000 live births 32.1 per 1,000 live births
2013 32.1 per 1,000 live births 33.1 per 1,000 live births
2012 33.3 per 1,000 live births 34.0 per 1,000 live births
2011 34.5 per 1,000 live births 35.9 per 1,000 live births
2010 36.0 per 1,000 live births 36.7 per 1,000 live births
2009 38.2 per 1,000 live births 38.0 per 1,000 live births
2008 41.0 per 1,000 live births 39.2 per 1,000 live births
2007 44.0 per 1,000 live births 40.7 per 1,000 live births
2006 46.0 per 1,000 live births 42.3 per 1,000 live births
2005 47.7 per 1,000 live births 44.1 per 1,000 live births
2004 48.7 per 1,000 live births 46.3 per 1,000 live births
2003 48.3 per 1,000 live births 48.0 per 1,000 live births
2002 47.6 per 1,000 live births 49.9 per 1,000 live births
2001 47.2 per 1,000 live births 51.9 per 1,000 live births
2000 46.5 per 1,000 live births 53.3 per 1,000 live births

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of −0.1 from 24.3 per 1,000 live births in 2023.
  • Since 2014, when it was 30.7 per 1,000 live births, the figure has changed by −6.5.
  • Among the 196 countries with data for 2024, South Africa has the 58th highest value.
  • The figure for the world in 2024 was 27.7 per 1,000 live births.

More for South Africa

All statistics for South Africa

Source and dates

Original producer
UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA)
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
SP.DYN.IMRT.IN · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1976 to 2024 for South Africa
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA)