SA population grows from 51.7 million to 62 million

South Africa’s population has increased from 51.7 million in 2011 to more than 62 million in 2022, which is a growth rate of 1.8 percent in the intercensal period.

This is according to Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke, who recently handed over South Africa's Census 2022 national results to President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

The population and housing census was conducted in February 2022 and provides comprehensive data on population size, demographic trends, and other service delivery related information.

“Females constituted 51.5 percent of the total population, while 48.5 percent were males. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal had the highest populations at 15 million and 12.4 million respectively, while the Northern Cape had the smallest (1.3 million),” said Maluleke.

“Black Africans remain the dominant population group at 81.4percent, followed by the coloured population at 8.2 percent. The white population percentage declined to 7.3 percent in 2022 from 8.9 percent observed in 2011, while that for Indians/ Asians increased slightly from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 2.7 percent in 2022,” he added.

The median age increased to 28 years from 25 years in 2011, suggesting a consistent increase over time and an overall increase of three years.

The number of households increased from 14.4 million in 2011 to 17.8 million in 2022, an intercensal growth rate of 2 percent.

“The household size declined from 3.6 to 3.5 in 2022. KwaZulu-Natal consistently had the highest household size (4.4 percent), followed by Northern Cape (4.1 percent). The majority of households resided in formal dwellings (88.5 percent); Limpopo maintained the highest proportion of formal dwellings, as was observed in 2011, increasing from 90 percent in 2011 to 95 percent in 2022,” he said.

The distribution of household headship between females and males is nearly equal, with approximately a 50-50 share for each. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest proportion of femaleheaded households.

More than 55 000 homeless individuals were recorded, with more males (70.1 percent) than females (29.9 percent), for both roofless and sheltered. v -