Kenya vs South Africa
South Africa has 13% more people than Kenya: 64,747,319 vs 57,532,493, a gap of 7.2 million. Kenya is growing faster (+1.93% vs +1.15% a year), adding about 1,110,192 people a year against +744,395. Using continuous exponential growth from the stated base year, if these rates held, Kenya would overtake South Africa in about 15 years (from the 2025 population bases, around 2040) — a projection, not a forecast. South Africa is the older society: 6.9% aged 65+ against 3.0% in Kenya, while Kenya has more children (36.3% under 15 vs 25.7%). Kenya is 1.8× as densely populated (95.3 vs 52.1 people per km²). People in South Africa live 2.5 years longer on average (66.3 vs 63.8). GDP per capita is 2.8× higher in South Africa ($6,598 vs $2,363).
Country/territory population bases: World Bank 2025 (Kenya) and 2025 (South Africa); growth years 2025 / 2025. Annual source values, not live counts; years may differ. Growth is national, not local.
Kenya vs South Africa — side by side
 Kenya |  South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 57,532,4932025 | 64,747,3192025 |
| Growth rate / yr | +1.93%2025 | +1.15%2025 |
| Births per 1,000 | 27.02024 | 18.52024 |
| Deaths per 1,000 | 7.22024 | 9.22024 |
| Children per woman | 3.172024 | 2.212024 |
| Life expectancy | 63.8 yrs2024 | 66.3 yrs2024 |
| Aged 0–14 | 36.3%2025 | 25.7%2025 |
| Aged 65+ | 3.0%2025 | 6.9%2025 |
| Density | 95.3 /km²2023 | 52.1 /km²2023 |
| Area | 591,969 km²2023 | 1,219,090 km²2023 |
| Urban population | 32.2%2025 | 63.8%2025 |
| Net migration / yr | -27,3302025 | +146,3702025 |
| GDP per capita | $2,3632025 | $6,5982025 |
| Country population rank (available records) | #26 | #24 |
| Base / world population (World Bank 2025) | 0.70% | 0.79% |
Highlighted cell = the higher value (not "better"). Small print under each value is its own data year. Source: World Bank; country/territory population bases may have different years. These are not live counts.
Population since 1960
World Bank population history (not the separate UN WPP timeline). Kenya: 7.5× from 1960 to 2025; South Africa: 3.9× from 1960 to 2025. Left: absolute population. Right: each series indexed to its own first available year = 100; baseline years may differ.
More comparisons
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa · rankings
Kenya: Kenya vs India, Kenya vs China, Kenya vs United States, Kenya vs Indonesia, Kenya vs Pakistan, Kenya vs Nigeria, Kenya vs Brazil, Kenya vs Bangladesh.
South Africa: South Africa vs India, South Africa vs China, South Africa vs United States, South Africa vs Indonesia, South Africa vs Pakistan, South Africa vs Nigeria, South Africa vs Brazil, South Africa vs Bangladesh.
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