The age structure of the population reflects the changes in fertility and life expectancy. South Africa’s current population pyramid is typical of a developing country.
Information on the size, distribution and characteristics of a country’s population is essential for describing and assessing its economic, social and demographic circumstances and for developing sound policies and programmes. The statistics are used as a critical reference to ensure equity in the distribution of wealth, government services and funds among various regions and districts of a country to fund for education and health services (UN, 1998).
This graph shows the age structure in South Africa from 2005 to 2015. In 2015, about 29.24 percent of South Africa’s total population were aged 0 to 14 years.
