South Africa - Deaths





South Africa: Deaths

Mnemonic DTH.IZAF
Unit #
Annual 1.67 %
Data 2018 454,014
2017 446,544

Series Information

Source Statistics South Africa (Statistics SA)
Release Vital Statistics - Deaths (Sub-National)
Frequency Annual
Start Date 12/31/1997
End Date 12/31/2018

South Africa: Demographics

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Net Migration Jan 2024 1,253,216 1,183,035 #, NSA Monthly
Births 2021 1,023,693 1,003,307 # Annual
Deaths 2018 454,014 446,544 # Annual
Birth Rate 2016 20.98 21.3 # per Ths. pop. Annual
Death Rate 2016 9.79 10.1 # per Ths. pop. Annual

Release Information

For South Africa and its nine provinces, the count of deaths per year, from 1997.

Source data: Publication P0309.3 "Mortality and causes of death in South Africa: Findings from death notification"

Geo coverage: Nation, nine provinces, "outside Republic of South Africa," and "unspecified location."

The source writes:

This release is based on all death notification forms received from the Department of Home Affairs. Mortality data are provided in numbers and in percentages. Basic information on the causes of death is presented.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), in close collaboration with the National Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the National Department of Health (DOH), annually produces statistical releases and data sets on mortality and causes of death based on information on deaths from the civil registration system in South Africa.

The registration of deaths in South Africa is governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992), as amended. The Act states that “in the case of a death due to natural causes, any person who was present at the time of death, or who became aware thereof, or who has charge of the burial concerned, shall give, as soon as practicable, notice of death” (Republic of South Africa, 1992).

If there is any doubt whether the death was due to natural causes, such a death must be reported to a police officer. After an investigation as to the circumstances of a death due to other than natural causes, the medical practitioner concerned shall, as soon as he is satisfied that the corpse concerned is no longer required for the purposes of an examination, issue a prescribed certificate to that effect. After death registration is completed, a death certificate is issued to the informant. All death notification forms are then collected by Stats SA for data processing and publication of statistical releases and data sets on mortality and causes of death.

The statistics on mortality and causes of death produced are an important source of demographic, geographic, and cause-of-death information. These statistics provide a valuable measure for assessing the health status of a population and in formulating health plans and policies to prevent or reduce premature mortality and improve quality of life. The level of mortality is one of the indicators of the well-being and health status of a population, hence its inclusion, among others, in the construction of human development indices, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and in the multi-dimensional approach to the measurement of poverty.

Data are subject to revisions.