South Africa (2022)
444.2
per million people
-2.3% YoY
YoY Change
-2.3%
per million people
Trend
down
Series length
22
years of data

Data

South Africa Researchers in R&D (per Million People) (2022) — source data. World Bank.
Year per million people YoY Change
2022 444.2 -2.3%
2021 454.8 -1.1%
2020 460 -4.1%
2019 479.9 -4.2%
2018 500.8 -3.0%
2017 516.5 +7.2%
2016 482 +3.3%
2015 466.6 +9.1%
2014 427.6 -0.7%
2013 430.4 +7.4%
2012 401 +5.0%
2011 382 +6.2%
2010 359.8 -6.5%
2009 384.8 +0.9%
2008 381.6 -0.7%
2007 384.4 +2.9%
2006 373.4 +6.3%
2005 351.4 -4.4%
2004 367.5 +25.5%
2003 292.8 n/a

About this Dataset

South Africa recorded 444.2 per million people in 2022. The latest change was -10.6. Across 1997–2022 the series ranges from 188 in 1997 to 516.5 in 2017.

This page tracks the number of researchers engaged in R&D per million people in South Africa from 1996 to present. Researcher density is the most internationally comparable measure of scientific human capital.

Data sourced from World Bank via Open Data API. Values use World Bank standardised methodology intended for cross-country comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page tracks the number of researchers engaged in R&D per million people in South Africa from 1996 to present. Researcher density is the most internationally comparable measure of scientific human capital. It is published by World Bank and updated annually.

The most recent observation covers 2022. World Bank typically publishes this series with a lag of several months after the reference period. The series runs 1997–2022 (22 observations).

The series peaked at 516.5 per million people in 2017 and reached its lowest recorded value of 188 in 1997. The latest reading of 444.2 in 2022 represents a change of -10.6.