The Germans of South Africa

The Germans of South Africa, numbering approximately 580,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a West Germanic people of Central Europe whose culture has been shaped by a long history of regional diversity, urban and rural traditions, Christianity, industrialization, and strong civic institutions They are an Diaspora people, with German as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Germanic people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Unaffiliated and German is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: German

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Germanic
Primary Language(s): German (deu)
Primary Religion(s): Unaffiliated
Population: 580,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015500
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Germans of South Africa

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Unaffiliated
Religious Affiliation: Unaffiliated

48%
%
Unaffiliated Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: German
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
German, Standard Speakers

Media Resources in German:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in German:

Or check out the German bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Germans are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Germans:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Germans of South Africa

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
readEphesians 1:13-14

Pray that God will work through believers near and far in bringing the lost to Himself, giving them what they need to do the task He has set before them, and helping them rest in Him because He has given them His Spirit.

German Across Countries (ROP3 - 103305) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

24 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
GermansGermansGermany69,070,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansUnited States914,000No Longer UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansCanada774,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansBrazil589,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansSouth Africa580,000No Longer UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansNetherlands579,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansSwitzerland318,000No Longer UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansAustria318,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansBolivia265,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansParaguay225,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansKazakhstan219,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
GermansGermansAustralia124,000No Longer UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansSpain112,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansBelgium80,500No Longer UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansPoland45,000No Longer UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansHungary35,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansLuxembourg33,000No Longer UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansDenmark28,500Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansNamibia27,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansCzech Republic22,500No Longer UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansMexico13,500Unengaged and UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism
GermansGermansSlovenia6,300Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
GermansGermansSingapore2,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanProtestantism
GermansGermansLiechtenstein1,400No Longer UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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