Number of HIV-positive people in select countries Africa 2023

As of 2023, South Africa was the country with the highest number of people living with HIV in Africa. At that time, around 7.7 million people in South Africa were HIV positive. In Mozambique, the country with the second-highest number of HIV-positive people in Africa, around 2.4 million people were living with HIV.

Which country in Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV?

Although South Africa has the highest total number of people living with HIV in Africa, it does not have the highest prevalence of HIV on the continent. Eswatini currently has the highest prevalence of HIV in Africa and worldwide, with almost 26 percent of the population living with HIV. South Africa has the third-highest prevalence, with around 18 percent of the population HIV positive. Eswatini also has the highest rate of new HIV infections per 1,000 population worldwide, followed by Lesotho and South Africa. However, South Africa had the highest total number of new HIV infections in 2023, with around 150,000 people newly infected with HIV that year.

Deaths from HIV in Africa

Thanks to advances in treatment and awareness, HIV/AIDS no longer contributes to a significant amount of death in many countries. However, the disease is still the fourth leading cause of death in Africa, accounting for around 5.6 percent of all deaths. In 2023, South Africa and Nigeria were the countries with the highest number of AIDS-related deaths worldwide with 50,000 and 45,000 such deaths, respectively. Although not every country in the leading 25 for AIDS-related deaths is found in Africa, African countries account for the majority of countries on the list. Fortunately, HIV treatment has become more accessible in Africa over the years and now up to 95 percent of people living with HIV in Eswatini are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Access to ART does vary from country to country, however, with around 77 percent of people who are HIV positive in South Africa receiving ART, and only 31 percent in the Congo.

Number of people living with HIV in select African countries in 2023

Characteristic	Number of people
South Africa	7,700,000
Mozambique	2,400,000
Nigeria	1,700,000
Uganda	1,500,000
Kenya	1,400,000
Zambia	1,300,000
Zimbabwe	1,300,000
Malawi	980,000
Ethiopia	610,000
Democratic Republic of the Congo	520,000
Côte d'Ivoire	420,000
Botswana	360,000
Lesotho	270,000
Eswatini	230,000
Namibia	230,000
Rwanda	230,000
South Sudan	140,000
Congo	120,000
Chad	110,000
Gabon	51,000
Guinea-Bissau	34,000