The Germans of South Africa

The Germans of South Africa, numbering approximately 580,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are 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 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

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
readPsalm 96:3

Pray for people to hear and believe the good news of Jesus and joyfully share it with their family and friends.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

24 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
GermansGermansGermany69,060,000Engaged 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
GermansGermansBolivia266,000Engaged 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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