Key Fact & Findings
- South Africa’s population reached 62,027,503 at the 2022 census, up from 51.77 million in 2011, a growth rate of approximately 1.8 percent annually.
- Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape together hold about 56 percent of South Africa’s population, with Gauteng alone growing from 12.2 million to 15.1 million between 2011 and 2022.
- South Africa’s median age is 28 years, placing the country in an intermediate demographic position between Africa’s youngest and Latin America’s most aged populations.
- Gauteng received more than a third of all internal migrants during the 2011-2022 intercensal period, and half of South Africa’s 2.4 million international migrants live there.
- Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho are the leading countries of origin for South Africa’s international migrant population, together accounting for roughly three-quarters of it.
- Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and the Free State experienced net outflows of internal migrants between 2011 and 2022, contrasting sharply with Gauteng and the Western Cape’s continued in-migration.
South Africa’s population reached 62,027,503 at the 2022 census, up from 51.77 million in 2011, an increase of 10.2 million people, or roughly 1.8 percent annually. Gauteng alone holds 15.1 million of them, and together with KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, three provinces account for about 56 percent of the entire national population.
South Africa’s median age is 28 years, low enough to reflect a still-youthful population overall, yet the country’s demographic picture resists any single label, since internal migration, international migration and regional inequality are reshaping different parts of the country in different directions at the same time.
South Africa’s Population Is Unevenly Distributed
South Africa’s nine provinces vary enormously in population, and that distribution has become more concentrated, not less, over the past intercensal period.
South Africa’s Provinces by Population, 2022 Census
| Province | Population (2022) | Population (2011) |
|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 15.1 million | 12.2 million |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 12.4 million | 10.3 million |
| Western Cape | 7.4 million | 5.8 million |
| Eastern Cape | ~7.2 million | ~6.6 million |
| Limpopo | ~6.6 million | ~5.4 million |
| Mpumalanga | ~5.1 million | ~4.0 million |
| North West | ~4.1 million | ~3.5 million |
| Free State | ~2.9 million | ~2.7 million |
| Northern Cape | 1.3 million | 1.1 million |
About 56 percent of South Africa’s population lives in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape combined, according to Statistics South Africa’s official Census 2022 release, even though those three provinces together cover only a fraction of the country’s total land area. Every one of South Africa’s nine provinces gained population between 2011 and 2022, but growth rates varied considerably, with Gauteng and the Western Cape expanding fastest in both absolute and percentage terms.
Gauteng Is the Country’s Demographic Magnet
Gauteng, home to Johannesburg and Pretoria (Tshwane), grew from 12.2 million in 2011 to 15.1 million by 2022, and the province received more than a third of all internal migrants during that intercensal period, more than any other province by a wide margin. That concentration reflects Gauteng’s role as South Africa’s principal economic hub, combining the country’s largest metropolitan labor market, financial sector and administrative capital functions.
Notably, Gauteng was the only province where men outnumbered women, 7.6 million to 7.4 million, a gender imbalance Statistics South Africa specifically attributed to work-related migration, since labor migrants moving toward Gauteng’s employment opportunities have historically skewed male.
Youth and Aging Exist at the Same Time
South Africa’s national median age of 28 places the country in an intermediate position demographically, younger than Chile or Uruguay but considerably older than Uganda, DR Congo or Burundi. That national figure, however, masks substantial variation: South Africa’s population includes both a large youth cohort still moving through the education system and labor market, and a growing elderly population whose needs, particularly around healthcare and pensions, are increasingly prominent in national policy discussions.
This dual reality means South Africa does not fit neatly into either the “young, fast-growing” or “aging, slow-growing” demographic categories that describe many of its neighbors more cleanly; it occupies a middle position shaped as much by internal inequality between regions as by its national averages.
Migration Is Reshaping Population Distribution
South Africa’s population growth over the past intercensal period was driven substantially by migration, both internal and international. Five provinces, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, recorded positive net internal migration between 2011 and 2022, while Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (net internal migration masks more complex intra-provincial patterns) and the Free State experienced net outflows to other provinces over the same period.
Internationally, the 2022 census recorded more than 2.4 million international migrants, roughly 3 percent of the total population, with Zimbabwe (45.5 percent of international migrants), Mozambique (18.7 percent) and Lesotho (10.2 percent) as the leading countries of origin. Half of all international migrants, 50.2 percent, resided in Gauteng, followed by about 16 percent in the Western Cape, reinforcing those two provinces’ role as South Africa’s principal migration destinations for both domestic and international movers alike.
Provincial Population Trends Differ
The provinces gaining population fastest, Gauteng and the Western Cape in particular, share a common profile: stronger formal-sector employment opportunities, better-resourced urban infrastructure and, in the Western Cape’s case, a rise in national ranking from the fifth-largest province in 1996 to the third-largest by 2022.
By contrast, provinces such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, which experienced net outflows of internal migrants over the same period, tend to combine more limited formal employment opportunities with a stronger reliance on remittances from family members who have migrated to Gauteng or the Western Cape for work, a pattern with deep historical roots in South Africa’s labor migration system.
Urbanization and Metropolitan Concentration
South Africa’s growing population concentration in Gauteng and the Western Cape reflects broader urbanization trends, with Johannesburg, Pretoria (Tshwane), Cape Town and Durban functioning as the country’s dominant metropolitan economic centers.
The City of Tshwane recorded South Africa’s highest number of homeless people among metros at 45.6 percent of the national metro total, according to 2022 census data, followed by the Western Cape’s metros at 17.5 percent, illustrating that continued urban migration toward these growth centers has not been matched by proportional housing supply, a mismatch visible in South Africa’s overall count of 17.8 million households nationally as of the 2022 census.
Population Structure and the Labor Market
South Africa’s youth population faces persistently high unemployment, a structural challenge that predates and compounds the demographic patterns described above, since young South Africans in provinces with weaker formal employment opportunities have strong incentives to migrate toward Gauteng and the Western Cape in search of work, reinforcing the same internal migration patterns visible in the census data. Skills mismatches between South Africa’s education system output and labor market demand, alongside broader structural unemployment challenges, mean that population growth alone, even concentrated in the country’s strongest economic regions, has not automatically translated into proportional employment growth.
Fertility, Life Expectancy and Future Aging
South Africa’s national fertility rate has declined over recent decades, consistent with the broader Southern African pattern, though it remains higher than the more advanced-transition rates seen in parts of the Southern Cone of South America profiled elsewhere in this cluster.
Life expectancy has recovered substantially since the depths of the HIV/AIDS epidemic’s impact on South African mortality in the early 2000s, though the elderly population share remains modest relative to countries further along their demographic transitions, reflecting South Africa’s intermediate position: neither as young as Uganda or Nigeria, nor as aged as Chile or Uruguay.
What South Africa’s Demographic Divide Means for Policy
South Africa’s population data points toward a set of policy questions distinct from the more uniformly young or uniformly aging countries profiled elsewhere in this series. Housing and infrastructure investment need to keep pace with continued in-migration to Gauteng and the Western Cape, provinces already showing signs of housing supply strain reflected in elevated homelessness figures.
Provinces experiencing net outflows, including Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, face a different challenge: sustaining public services and economic opportunity for populations that continue growing in absolute terms even as their most economically mobile residents relocate toward Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Migration policy, both toward South Africa’s substantial international migrant population concentrated heavily in Gauteng, and regarding internal labor mobility between provinces, will remain a central and often politically contested feature of how South Africa manages a population divide that is fundamentally about where opportunity is concentrated as much as it is about raw demographic numbers.
Conclusion
South Africa’s 2022 census data resists a single demographic headline. Gauteng’s continued dominance as a migration magnet, the Western Cape’s rise up the provincial population rankings, and the steady outflow from Limpopo and the Eastern Cape together describe a country whose population map is being redrawn as much by opportunity and inequality as by fertility or mortality.
With a median age of 28, sitting between Africa’s youngest countries and Latin America’s most aged ones, South Africa’s demographic future will likely continue to be defined less by a single national trajectory than by the widening gap between its fastest-growing, migration-receiving provinces and the regions many of its new residents are leaving behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which province has the largest population?
Gauteng, with 15.1 million people as of the 2022 census, up from 12.2 million in 2011, remains South Africa’s most populous province by a wide margin.
2. Is South Africa’s population young or aging?
South Africa occupies an intermediate position, with a national median age of 28 years, younger than Chile or Uruguay but older than countries such as Uganda or DR Congo, and its demographic profile varies considerably between provinces and population groups.
3. How does migration affect South Africa’s population?
Both internal and international migration substantially reshape South Africa’s population distribution, with Gauteng receiving more than a third of internal migrants and half of the country’s 2.4 million international migrants during the 2011-2022 period, while provinces like Limpopo and the Eastern Cape experienced net outflows.
4. What is South Africa’s total population?
South Africa’s population reached 62,027,503 at the 2022 census, an increase of about 10.2 million from the 51,770,560 recorded in 2011.
5. Where do most of South Africa’s international migrants come from?
Zimbabwe accounted for 45.5 percent of international migrants, followed by Mozambique at 18.7 percent and Lesotho at 10.2 percent, together representing roughly three-quarters of South Africa’s international migrant population as of the 2022 census.
6. Which province is South Africa’s least populous?
The Northern Cape, with 1.3 million people at the 2022 census, remains South Africa’s smallest province by population despite covering a large share of the country’s land area.
7. Why did the Western Cape’s population ranking rise?
The Western Cape moved from being the fifth-largest province in 1996 to the third-largest by 2022, reflecting sustained in-migration tied to the province’s relatively strong formal employment opportunities and urban infrastructure, particularly around Cape Town.
8. Why does Gauteng have more men than women?
Gauteng was the only South African province where men outnumbered women at the 2022 census, 7.6 million to 7.4 million, a pattern Statistics South Africa attributed to work-related migration favoring male labor migrants.
9. How much of South Africa’s population lives in its three largest provinces?
Approximately 56 percent of South Africa’s population lives in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape combined, according to Statistics South Africa’s official Census 2022 release.
10. Is South Africa’s population still growing?
Yes. South Africa’s population grew at approximately 1.8 percent annually between the 2011 and 2022 censuses, reaching 62 million people, driven by a combination of natural increase and substantial migration into provinces such as Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Sources
- Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Census 2022 Population Count Results, Media Release, October 10, 2023
- Statistics South Africa, “Census 2022 shows South Africa’s population grew to 62 million”
- Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG), Briefing by Statistician-General on the Census 2022 Results
- Wikipedia/2022 South African census
- Daily Maverick, “Census 2022: South Africa’s population in 11 easy charts”
