South Africa

Despite its status as a middle-income country with relatively high urbanization, South Africa's infant mortality rate remains high at 24.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. This figure is typical of lower-income nations and highlights persistent challenges in maternal and child health access and quality of care.

South Africa's fertility rate of 2.22 children per woman is slightly above the replacement level (2.1). This suggests continued, albeit slowing, population growth, distinguishing it from many high-income nations experiencing population decline, but also indicating a demographic transition away from the high rates typical of lower-income African countries.

A significant majority of South Africans (over 63%) live in urban areas, indicating high levels of internal migration and concentration in cities. This places immense pressure on existing infrastructure, contributing to frequent challenges like electricity shortages (load shedding) despite high national access to electricity.

With a GDP per capita of over $6,000, South Africa is firmly classified as an upper-middle-income country. However, this average masks extreme income inequality and poverty, which is reflected in the high unemployment rate and the relatively low life expectancy for a country at this economic level.