Korea vs South Africa: Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million
Korea
26.41 million
in 2025
South Africa
23.36 million
in 2025
Korea rank
15th
South Africa rank
17th
Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million over time
- Korea
- South Africa
How they compare
Korea currently reports 26.41 million against 23.36 million in South Africa, a difference of 3.06 million.
That makes Korea's figure about 1.1 times South Africa's.
Across all 66 years both countries report, Korea has been ahead every year.
Korea ranks 15th and South Africa ranks 17th of 121 countries.
Korea has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Korea | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 7.24 million | 4.59 million | 2.65 million | Korea |
| 1970s | 13.00 million | 5.95 million | 7.05 million | Korea |
| 1980s | 19.00 million | 7.61 million | 11.39 million | Korea |
| 1990s | 23.19 million | 10.56 million | 12.62 million | Korea |
| 2000s | 24.50 million | 14.54 million | 9.95 million | Korea |
| 2010s | 25.44 million | 18.69 million | 6.75 million | Korea |
| 2020s | 26.22 million | 22.33 million | 3.89 million | Korea |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, Korea or South Africa?
- Korea, at 26.41 million against 23.36 million in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million between Korea and South Africa?
- 3.06 million, with Korea ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Korea and South Africa?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do Korea and South Africa rank globally for population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million?
- Korea ranks 15th and South Africa ranks 17th of 121 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN), published as Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Population in urban agglomerations of more than one million is the country's population living in metropolitan areas that in 2018 had a population of more than one million people.