Business & Markets · Internet users · South Africa
South Africa’s internet users rose to 78.4% of population in 2024.
78.4% of population
2024
Up 0.02 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
78.4% of population
What it is. This measure gives the share of all people in South Africa who use the internet, so children and older people count in the total. It records whether someone goes online and leaves out the speed and cost of access. No methodology is published for this series, so the survey source behind the figure is unspecified.
Higher is better. A higher share means more people can reach online services, job listings, schooling material and digital payments, which is why a rise is good. The latest figure is 78.4% of population in 2024, against 78.3% of population in 2023, a gain of 0.02 percentage points. Growth over the last year was therefore very small. Since 2015 the series has ranged from a low of 51.9% of population in 2015 to a high of 78.4% of population in 2024, so the latest reading is the highest in that span.
Why it matters. With 78.4% of the population online, most households can use banking apps, search for work and follow school or clinic information on a phone or computer. Firms can reach a large customer base through online sales and messaging, and the state can run more services through websites. The people still offline, and the very small rise in 2024, show that growth has slowed from the pace of earlier years.
| Period | Internet users · South Africa |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 51.9% of population |
| 2016 | 54% of population |
| 2017 | 56.2% of population |
| 2018 | 62.4% of population |
| 2019 | 69.7% of population |
| 2020 | 72.1% of population |
| 2021 | 75% of population |
| 2022 | 78.3% of population |
| 2023 | 78.3% of population |
| 2024 | 78.4% of population |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Internet users, South Africa, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/internet-users/south-africa
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Methodology
Individuals using the internet as a share of the population. Unit: % of population.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series IT.NET.USER.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.