Census 2022: SA citizens are moving to Gauteng and Western Cape
The Census 2022 results have confirmed that most South Africans are moving to Gauteng and the Western Cape. Here’s why..
Gauteng and Western Cape are two provinces that most people from other provinces are flocking into according to the Census 2022 results.
This was confirmed by the Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke on Tuesday, 10 October.
CENSUS 2022: MOST SOUTH AFRICANS ARE MIGRATING TO GAUTENG AND WESTERN CAPE
According to Maluleke internal migration results showed that two provinces still dominate internal migration in South Africa.
Gauteng remained the dominant migration stream, receiving more than a third of all internal migrants, followed by Western Cape with 15%.
Over the intercensal period, four provinces experienced an outflow of people, namely Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State.
“Census 2022 showed there were more than 2.4 million international migrants, which equates to just above 3% of the total population. Most of these came from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region (86%) and of these, 45.5% came from Zimbabwe, followed by Mozambique with 18.7% and Lesotho with 10.2%.
“The top five sending countries to South Africa were Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho and the United Kingdom; these five countries have also maintained their rank since 2011,” Maluleke said.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES CAUSING INTERNAL MIGRATION
As previously reported by The South African, recent reports show that ongoing urbanisation which is fueled by economic stagnation and job opportunities, is driving people to three provincial economic hubs, namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and Western Cape.
According to Lightstone’s analysis of provincial data, nearly 60% of South Africans live in these three provinces, while the population in two of the economic powerhouses – Gauteng and the Western Cape – grew well above the national average over the last decade.
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Just more than 16 million (27%) of South Africa’s 60.5 million people live in Gauteng, while 11.5 million (19%) live in KZN and 7.2 million people (12%) live in the Western Cape, the report showed.
Since 2011, Gauteng’s population has grown by 31% as of the end of 2022, while the Western Cape has grown by 24% and KZN by 12% – compared to the national average of 17%.