How many people live in South Sudan right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
12,515,041
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Net migration | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 80 of 237
- Share of world population
- 0.15%
- Median age
- 19.0 years
- Children per woman
- 3.63
- Life expectancy
- 58.0 years
- People per km²
- 22
According to UN estimates, about 12.5 million people live in South Sudan right now. It ranks 80th out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Bolivia and Tunisia, and it is home to one in every 665 people on the planet.
Every day, about 1,000 people are born there and about 340 die. More people arrive than leave: net migration adds about 8,000 people a year. Overall, the population grows by about 690 people a day (2.02% a year).
In 1950, about 2.5 million people lived there. Today there are 5.0 times as many. The UN expects it to keep growing for the rest of the century. By 2050 it is projected to have about 18.3 million people (47% more than today), and by 2100 about 23.8 million.
Half of its people are younger than 19 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 3.63 children each, above the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 58 years (worldwide, 74). There are 22 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of South Sudan in 2026?
- South Sudan has about 12.5 million people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 12,436,037.
- How many people are born each day in South Sudan?
- About 1,000 a day (366,000 a year). About 340 people die each day (123,000 a year).
- Is the population of South Sudan growing?
- Yes: it grows by 2.02% a year, or about 251,000 people.
- What will the population of South Sudan be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 18.3 million.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- Rwanda 14,991,711
- Burundi 14,838,395
- Bolivia 12,801,705
- Tunisia 12,434,405
- Haiti 12,078,605
- Belgium 11,779,072
More countries in Africa
- Nigeria 243,985,749
- Ethiopia 139,989,183
- Egypt 120,651,345
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 117,604,080
- Tanzania 73,203,822
- South Africa 65,670,725
- Kenya 58,985,365
- Sudan 53,734,919
- Uganda 53,195,379
- Algeria 48,206,513
- Angola 40,591,253
- Morocco 38,862,726
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.