Nearly 60% of deaths among young men in South Africa are from unnatural causes.

This is according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), which released the latest data on mortality in South Africa last week.

The data, which are from 2023, the most recent year for which data are available, shows that of the 26 000 men aged between 15 and 29 who died in 2023 in South Africa, 59.1% of the deaths were from unnatural causes.

Unnatural causes included deaths from motor vehicle accidents, incidents of violence, suicide, and complications from surgery, among other causes.

The proportion of deaths from unnatural causes among men drops significantly as men get older. For men aged between 30 and 44 the proportion of deaths from unnatural causes was 38.0%, for men aged between 45 and 64 the rate was 12.3%, and for men aged 65 and older the rate was 3.7%.

For boys aged 14 and younger the proportion of unnatural deaths was 32.0%.

For women the rate of unnatural deaths was lower but still high for younger women. For girls younger than 14 the proportion of unnatural deaths was 25.2%, dropping to 24.1% for women aged between 15 and 29. For women aged between 30 and 44 the unnatural death proportion was 11.5%, for women aged 45 to 64 it was 4.5%, and for women older than 65 it was 2.2%.

The rate of unnatural deaths among young men in South Africa is slightly higher than global norms. According to edical journal The Lancet, the rate of unnatural deaths of males aged between 10 and 24 globally was about 40%.

The overall proportion of deaths from unnatural causes in South Africa was 13.3% in 2023.