Ad Revenue in South Africa: eCPM and RPM Estimates

Market profile

Region tier

Tier 3 (Rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe)

Market multiplier

0.80x

Assumed iOS share

15%

Against the Tier 3 average this market earns about 20% less.

About the market

South Africa is a Tier 3 country in our model and the most developed advertising market in Africa. Retail, banking, insurance, telecoms, e-commerce and betting brands advertise, and Johannesburg and Cape Town host many of the continent's agencies and media buyers. Black Friday is huge here, with retailers pushing it for most of November, and the December holiday season is a second peak. The seasons are reversed compared with Europe, so summer falls around Christmas. Data is expensive for many users, and power cuts have disrupted connectivity in recent years, so engagement can look uneven compared with markets with stable broadband. Rates per impression are below Western Europe, but the audience is sizeable and English-speaking, which keeps it open to global demand.

Android dominates, mostly on affordable phones, with iOS concentrated in higher-income groups. English is widely used for business and online content, but the country has many official languages, including Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans, and local-language content can win loyalty where advertisers support it. The Protection of Personal Information Act, known as POPIA, governs personal data and is enforced by the Information Regulator, so a consent flow and privacy notice are expected. Because data is costly, lightweight pages and apps lose fewer users. Football, rugby, cricket, personal finance, cooking and entertainment content draw dependable audiences, and job-seeking and education topics are popular with younger readers. Sponsored deals and local brands often prefer South African spelling and references.

Estimated mobile eCPM in South Africa

Blended Android and iOS eCPM for a casual game, USD per 1,000 impressions.

Rewarded video spans $0.87 to $1.27 across the networks here, a spread of 45% between the lowest and highest table. Among other Tier 3 markets in our list, the closest in price is Malaysia and the furthest is Saudi Arabia.

Estimated website RPM in South Africa

Page RPM for a general-interest site with readers in South Africa, at the reference layout.

What an app earns there

Monthly estimates for a casual game with its typical ad setup, all users in South Africa.

Getting paid from South Africa

South African publishers are typically paid into a local bank account. Some networks send electronic funds transfers, while others send dollar wires that the bank converts to rand. Exchange control rules mean the bank may ask about the nature of an incoming foreign payment, so keep your network statements. The rand moves a good deal, so the timing of conversion can matter. Fees and options vary by bank, so check each network's payment settings.

All figures come from our benchmark tables: Android eCPMs by tier, category or niche multipliers, modelled fill and the iOS multiplier. They are estimates for planning, not quotes.