Distillers South Africa
A one-page guide to South Africa for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Pretoria (executive); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial)
- Official languages
- Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, South African Sign Language, Swazi, Tshivenda, Xhosa, Xitsonga, Zulu
- Currency
- South African rand (ZAR)
- Time zone
- UTC+2 (SAST)
People
- Population growth
- 1.1% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 63.8%
- Aged under 15
- 25.7%
- Aged 65 and over
- 6.9%
- Life expectancy
- 66.3 years
Climate
Generally temperate, varying from desert in the north-west to subtropical in the east. South-west has a Mediterranean climate (wet winters, hot dry summers). Winter is June-August; recorded extremes 48.8 C and -20.1 C.
Alcohol
- Legal drinking age
- 18
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 8.45 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: South Africa; World Bank indicators API; WHO Global Health Observatory API; UN Comtrade public API; SARS excise - spirits; The Spirits Business - SA spirits (April 2026); Winemag - SA wine, spirits and beer brands; Liquor Act 59 of 2003 s.11. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.