South Africa’s Population Surpasses 60 Million

By the end of June 2022, South Africa’s population had reached about 60.6 million according to estimates by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

Between 2002 and 2022, Stats SA said South Africa experienced a positive population growth year-on-year.

“A positive growth rate indicates that the population is increasing, despite the devastating impact of COVID-19 globally and within South Africa’s borders.”

In addition, by 2022, the national statistical service measures of mortality indicate an improvement in life expectancy at birth moving from 61.7 years in 2021 to 62.8 years in 2022.

COVID-19

Data shows that the majority of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a drastic decline in the growth rate (1.47%) of the elderly population.

However,  thanks to vaccinations, there was an increased rate of growth among the elderly population (2.11%) by 2022.

Like COVID-19, Stats SA said, South Africa also paid a heavy price demographically due to the AIDS pandemic.

The latest statistic is based on the mid-year population estimates (MPYE), which offer key indices and estimates regarding births, deaths and migratory movements in the country. It also looks into key estimates by age, sex and geographical data that assist in planning for the needs of the population.

In addition, Stats SA said the upcoming Census 2022 results will be a key source of data to update those estimates and indices.

In 2022, the MYPE indicates that about 28.07% of the population is aged younger than 15 years (17.01 million) and about 9.2% (5.59 million) is 60 years or older.

Provinces

• The provinces with the highest percentage of children younger than 15 are Limpopo (33.6%) and Eastern Cape (32.7%).
• Gauteng still has the largest share of the South African population, with approximately 16.10 million people (26.6%) living in this province.
• KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is the province with the second largest population, with an estimated 11.54 million people (19%) living there.
• With a population of approximately 1.31 million people (2.2%), Northern Cape remains the province with the smallest share of the South African population.

The MYPE does not include inputs from the census conducted in 2022.

Stats SA said the census data will be released in 2023 and there will be no mid-year population estimates report next year. – SAnews.gov.za