Which has higher median age, Algeria or South Africa?

South Africa, at 28.21 years against 28.19 years in Algeria as of 2023.

What is the difference in median age between Algeria and South Africa?

0.02 years, with South Africa ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Algeria and South Africa?

74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Median age. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Algeria vs South Africa: Median age

Algeria

28.19 years

in 2023

South Africa

28.21 years

in 2023

Algeria rank

144th

South Africa rank

143rd

Median age over time

Algeria
South Africa

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 28.21 years against 28.19 years in Algeria, a difference of 0.02 years.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was South Africa ahead.

Algeria ranks 144th and South Africa ranks 143rd of 236 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Algeria averaged higher in 3 and South Africa in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Algeria	South Africa	Difference	Ahead
1950s	17.64 years	18.63 years	0.9965 years	South Africa
1960s	15.63 years	17.8 years	2.17 years	South Africa
1970s	15.32 years	17.88 years	2.56 years	South Africa
1980s	16.27 years	19.22 years	2.95 years	South Africa
1990s	18.73 years	20.47 years	1.74 years	South Africa
2000s	22.87 years	22.03 years	0.8414 years	Algeria
2010s	26.39 years	25.21 years	1.18 years	Algeria
2020s	27.89 years	27.75 years	0.1382 years	Algeria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher median age, Algeria or South Africa?: South Africa, at 28.21 years against 28.19 years in Algeria as of 2023.
What is the difference in median age between Algeria and South Africa?: 0.02 years, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Algeria and South Africa?: 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
How do Algeria and South Africa rank globally for median age?: Algeria ranks 144th and South Africa ranks 143rd of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Median age. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Median age
Unit: years
Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

The age that divides the population into two halves of equal size — half are younger and half are older.