Demographic profile
South Sudan is the 80th most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.15% of everyone alive. Within Eastern Africa, it ranks 13 of 20.
Each day brings roughly 1,271 births and 337 deaths, adding about 341,136 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 2.71% annually, the population would double in roughly 26 years if the rate held. Real trajectories bend as fertility, mortality and migration shift, which is why the chart below shows both history and projection.
Among its first-level divisions, the largest by our modelled allocation is Central Equatoria, holding an estimated 29.5% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 10 states and regions is in the table below — regional figures outside Sudan are modelled estimates built on real region names, and are flagged as such.
Literacy stands near 34.5% and adult smoking prevalence around 11.0%. Baselines come from UN World Population Prospects, the World Bank, WHO surveys, WorldPop and HDX; the counters project them forward in real time — the method, and every caveat, is documented on our data sources page.
Quick answers
What is the population of South Sudan in 2026? Approximately 12,588,875 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is South Sudan growing? About 2.71% per year — roughly 1,271 births and 337 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in South Sudan? Around 0.15% — ranked 80 worldwide by population.