People
South Africa's population
AT A GLANCE
According to the Census 2011 data from Statistics South Africa, in 2011 the country's population was 51 770 560, of which 26 581 769 (51.3%) were female and 25 188 791 (48.7%) were male. Africans are in the majority at just over 41-million, making up 79.2% of the total population. The coloured population is 4 615 401 (8.9%), while there are 4 586 838 (8.9%) whites. The Indian/Asian population stands at 1 286 930 (2.5%). In 2011, "other" was included in the Census, and accounts for 280 454 or 0.5% of the total.SA's POPULATION: CENSUS 2011 | ||
Population group | Number | % of total |
African | 41 000 938 | 79.2% |
White | 4 586 838 | 8.9% |
Coloured | 4 615 401 | 8.9% |
Indian/Asian | 1 286 930 | 2.5% |
Other | 280 454 | 0.5% |
TOTAL | 51 770 560 | 100% |
Source: Statistics South Africa
There have been three official censuses since South Africa's first democratic election in 1994, the first in 1996, the second in 2001, and the third conducted in October 2011. The population in 1996 was 40.6-million, increasing by 10.4% to 44.8-million in 2001. The population grew by 15.5%, or almost 7-million people, in the space of 10 years to reach a total of 51.7-million in 2011.BY PROVINCE
The provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal account for 42% of South Africa�s population, with Gauteng taking top spot as the most populous province from KwaZulu-Natal: 12.3 million people (23,7%) live in Gauteng, while 10.3 million (19.8%) live in KwaZulu-Natal. They are followed by the Eastern Cape with 6.56-million (12.7%), the Western Cape with 5.82-million (11.3%), Limpopo with 5.4-million (10.4%), Mpumalanga with 4.04-million (7.8%), North West with 3.51- million (6.8%), and Free State with 2.75-million (5.3%). Although the Northern Cape is the largest province, at almost a third of South Africa's land area, it is an arid region with the smallest population � only 1.15-million people, or 2.2% of the total.POPULATION BY PROVINCE 2011 | ||
Province | Population | % of total |
Eastern Cape | 6 562 053 | 12.7% |
Free State | 2 745 590 | 5.3% |
Gauteng | 12 272 263 | 23.7% |
KwaZulu-Natal | 10 267 300 | 19.8% |
Limpopo | 5 404 868 | 10.4% |
Mpumalanga | 4 039 939 | 7.8% |
Northern Cape | 1 145 861 | 2.2% |
North West | 3 509 953 | 6.8% |
Western Cape | 5 822 734 | 11.3% |
TOTAL | 51 770 560 | 100% |
Source: Statistics South Africa
Comparing the three sets of census data, the provincial share of the total population has fallen in the Eastern Cape (from 15.1% in 1996 to 12.7% in 2011). The fastest growing province is the Western Cape, growing by 29% between 2006 and 2011. Gauteng's population grew by 31% to 12.8-million people by 2011, up from 9.4- million a decade ago. Around 1-million people have moved to Gauteng in the past decade, highlighting the flow of people from rural to urban areas. Only 56% of people living in Gauteng today were born there.POPULATION GROUPS
The African population is made up of four broad groupings:- The Nguni, comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi people
- The Sotho-Tswana, who include the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana people)
- The Tsonga
- The Venda
- Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch, German and French Huguenot who came to the country from the 17th century onwards.
- English-speakers, descendants of settlers from the British Isles who came to the country from the late 18th century onwards.
- Immigrants and descendents of immigrants from the rest of Europe, including Greeks, Portuguese, Eastern European Jews, Hungarians and Germans.
LANGUAGES
South Africa is a multilingual country. Its new democratic constitution, which came into effect on 4 February 1997, recognises 11 official languages, to which it guarantees equal status. These are:- Afrikaans
- English
- isiNdebele
- isiXhosa
- isiZulu
- Sesotho sa Leboa
- Sesotho
- Setswana
- siSwati
- Tshivenda
- Xitsonga
SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES � 2011 | ||
Language | Number of speakers* | % of total |
Afrikaans | 6 855 082 | 13.5% |
English | 4 892 623 | 9.6% |
IsiNdebele | 1 090 223 | 2.1% |
IsiXhosa | 8 154 258 | 16% |
IsiZulu | 11 587 374 | 22.7% |
Sepedi | 4 618 576 | 9.1% |
Sesotho | 3 849 563 | 7.6% |
Setswana | 4 067 248 | 8% |
Sign language | 234 655 | 0.5% |
SiSwati | 1 297 046 | 2.5% |
Tshivenda | 1 209 388 | 2.4% |
Xitsonga | 2 277 148 | 4.5% |
Other | 828 258 | 1.6% |
TOTAL | 50 961 443** | 100% |
* Spoken as a home language
** Unspecified and not applicable excluded
Source: Statistics SA
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