Temperature change in South Africa
South Africa: Temperature change was 1.05 °C in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Temperature change in South Africa, 1961–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in °C.
Analysis
The most recent figure for temperature change in South Africa is 1.05 °C, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 32.5% on the previous year and down 24.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, temperature change in South Africa peaked at 1.98 °C in 2019 and was at its lowest, -0.519 °C, in 1976.
South Africa ranks 183rd of 233 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Temperature change in South Africa, year by year
| Year | °C | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.253 °C | — |
| 1962 | 0.214 °C | -15.4% |
| 1963 | 0.183 °C | -14.5% |
| 1964 | -0.076 °C | -141.5% |
| 1965 | -0.034 °C | -55.3% |
| 1966 | 0.237 °C | -797.1% |
| 1967 | -0.086 °C | -136.3% |
| 1968 | -0.393 °C | +357.0% |
| 1969 | 0.271 °C | -169.0% |
| 1970 | 0.338 °C | +24.7% |
| 1971 | -0.18 °C | -153.3% |
| 1972 | 0.084 °C | -146.7% |
| 1973 | 0.325 °C | +286.9% |
| 1974 | -0.27 °C | -183.1% |
| 1975 | -0.159 °C | -41.1% |
| 1976 | -0.519 °C | +226.4% |
| 1977 | 0.161 °C | -131.0% |
| 1978 | 0.052 °C | -67.7% |
| 1979 | 0.313 °C | +501.9% |
| 1980 | 0.229 °C | -26.8% |
| 1981 | -0.355 °C | -255.0% |
| 1982 | 0.189 °C | -153.2% |
| 1983 | 0.674 °C | +256.6% |
| 1984 | 0.504 °C | -25.2% |
| 1985 | 0.627 °C | +24.4% |
| 1986 | 0.425 °C | -32.2% |
| 1987 | 0.707 °C | +66.4% |
| 1988 | 0.325 °C | -54.0% |
| 1989 | -0.038 °C | -111.7% |
| 1990 | 0.313 °C | -923.7% |
| 1991 | 0.344 °C | +9.9% |
| 1992 | 0.78 °C | +126.7% |
| 1993 | 0.812 °C | +4.1% |
| 1994 | 0.199 °C | -75.5% |
| 1995 | 0.623 °C | +213.1% |
| 1996 | -0.158 °C | -125.4% |
| 1997 | 0.225 °C | -242.4% |
| 1998 | 0.824 °C | +266.2% |
| 1999 | 1.08 °C | +31.2% |
| 2000 | 0.248 °C | -77.1% |
| 2001 | 0.497 °C | +100.4% |
| 2002 | 0.487 °C | -2.0% |
| 2003 | 0.921 °C | +89.1% |
| 2004 | 0.961 °C | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 1.16 °C | +21.0% |
| 2006 | 0.452 °C | -61.1% |
| 2007 | 0.878 °C | +94.2% |
| 2008 | 0.787 °C | -10.4% |
| 2009 | 0.801 °C | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 1.24 °C | +54.4% |
| 2011 | 0.547 °C | -55.8% |
| 2012 | 0.722 °C | +32.0% |
| 2013 | 0.821 °C | +13.7% |
| 2014 | 0.916 °C | +11.6% |
| 2015 | 1.39 °C | +51.6% |
| 2016 | 1.65 °C | +18.6% |
| 2017 | 1.19 °C | -27.7% |
| 2018 | 1.07 °C | -10.1% |
| 2019 | 1.98 °C | +84.7% |
| 2020 | 0.985 °C | -50.2% |
| 2021 | 0.867 °C | -12.0% |
| 2022 | 1.01 °C | +17.0% |
| 2023 | 1.05 °C | +3.8% |
| 2024 | 1.55 °C | +47.5% |
| 2025 | 1.05 °C | -32.5% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 1.05 °C is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.4 °C, 75% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 1.05 °C is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.22 °C, 86% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Temperature change in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +923.7% | -0.038 °C | 0.313 °C |
| 1966 | +797.1% | -0.034 °C | 0.237 °C |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.0632 °C | -0.393 °C | 0.271 °C | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.0145 °C | -0.519 °C | 0.338 °C | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3287 °C | -0.355 °C | 0.707 °C | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5043 °C | -0.158 °C | 1.08 °C | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7195 °C | 0.248 °C | 1.16 °C | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.15 °C | 0.547 °C | 1.98 °C | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.09 °C | 0.867 °C | 1.55 °C | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.59 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.2953 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is temperature change in South Africa?
- Temperature change in South Africa was 1.05 °C in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest temperature change recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.98 °C in 2019.
- What is the lowest temperature change recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.519 °C in 1976.
- How does South Africa rank for temperature change?
- South Africa ranks 183rd out of 233 countries with data for 2025.
- Is temperature change rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Temperature change. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Temperature change on land domain disseminates statistics of mean surface temperature change by country, with annual updates. Statistics are available for monthly, seasonal and annual mean temperature anomalies, i.e., temperature change with respect to a baseline climatology, corresponding to the period 1951–1980. The standard deviation of the temperature change of the baseline methodology is also available. Data are based on the publicly available GISTEMP data, the Global Surface Temperature Change data distributed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA-GISS).