The South African National Census of 2022 is the 4th comprehensive census performed by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
The census was carried out on the Census reference night, at midnight on 2- 3 February 2022, and the results were released on 10 October 2023, recording a total of 62 million people in South Africa.
The census cost R4 billion to implement, roughly double the amount of the 2011 census.
Census 2022 results for South Africa
- Area
- 1,220,813 km²
- South Africa’s Population
- 62,027,602 (50.81 per km²)
- Number of Households
- 17,828,778 (14.60 per km²)
Gender
| Gender | People | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 31,948,746 | 51.5% |
| Male | 30,078,757 | 48.5% |
Age
| Age | People | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 0–4 | 5,833,515 | 9.4% |
| 5–9 | 5,109,104 | 8.2% |
| 10–14 | 5,404,124 | 8.7% |
| 15–19 | 4,975,309 | 8.0% |
| 20–24 | 5,309 738 | 8.6% |
| 25–29 | 5,733 239 | 9.2% |
| 30–34 | 5,592,823 | 9.0% |
| 35–39 | 5,222,603 | 8.4% |
| 40–44 | 4,185,220 | 6.7% |
| 45–49 | 3,293,511 | 5.3% |
| 50–54 | 2,769,139 | 4.5% |
| 55–59 | 2,496,452 | 4.0% |
| 60–64 | 2,095,667 | 3.4% |
| 65–69 | 1,599,671 | 2.6% |
| 70–74 | 1,046,006 | 1.7% |
| 75–79 | 652,033 | 1.1% |
| 80–84 | 394,814 | 0.6% |
| 85+ | 314,532 | 0.5% |
Population group
| Race | People | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Black African | 50,486,856 | 81.4% |
| Coloured | 5,052,349 | 8.1% |
| White | 4,504,252 | 7.3% |
| Indian or Asian | 1,697,506 | 2.7% |
| Other | 286,639 | 0.5% |
First language
The 2022 census shows that isiZulu remained the most spoken language in the country, at almost a quarter (24.4%), followed by isiXhosa (16.3%) and Afrikaans (10.6%). The findings showed a downward trend in persons who speak Afrikaans (from 14.5% in 1996 to 10.6% in 2022), followed by isiXhosa speakers. The proportion of persons who speak English, Xitsonga and Tshivenda remained relatively stable.
The results further showed that less than 1% of the population communicated using sign language in both Censuses 2011 and 2022. South Africa promulgated sign language as its 12th official language in July 2023. As such, it is recognised by law as one of the official languages.
| Language | People | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| isiZulu | 15,124,191 | 24.4% |
| isiXhosa | 10,073,111 | 16.3% |
| Afrikaans | 6,583,111 | 10.6% |
| Sepedi | 6,198,831 | 10% |
| English | 5,388,221 | 8.7% |
| Setswana | 5,113,111 | 8.3% |
| Sesotho | 4,958,852 | 7.8% |
| Xitsonga | 2,913,111 | 4.7% |
| SiSwati | 1,737,722 | 2.8% |
| Tshivenda | 1,549,957 | 2.5% |
| isiNdebele | 1,053,711 | 1.7% |
| Sign language | 12,397 | 0.02% |
| Other | 1,307,833 | 2.1% |
Religion
The 2022 Census results show that the majority of the population reported Christianity (85.3%) as their chosen affiliation/belief, followed by Traditional African religion (7.8%). On the other hand, 2.9% of the population reported that they have no religious affiliation/belief. These proportions suggest that more than four in five persons in the population believe in Christianity, while relatively close to one in ten persons practise Traditional African religion.
| Religion | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Christianity | 85.3% |
| Islam | 1.6% |
| Traditional African | 7.8% |
| Hinduism | 1.1% |
| Buddhism | 0% |
| Judaism | 0.1% |
| Atheism | 0.1% |
| Agnosticism | 0.1% |
| No religious affiliation | 2.9% |
| Other | 1.0% |
Place types
The census results are available for six area types listed here from largest to smallest.
- Provinces
- The nine provinces of South Africa.
- Metropolitan and District Municipalities
- Administrative divisions of the provinces; there are 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities.
- Local Municipalities
- Administrative divisions of the district municipalities; there are 226 local municipalities.
- Main Places
- Stats SA-defined locations that generally correspond to towns, small cities, regions of large cities, or traditional council areas. Areas that do not fall within any named settlement are incorporated in a main place named for the municipality.
- Sub Places
- Stats SA-named locations which generally correspond to suburbs, villages, or localities. When a main place contains only one sub place, that sub place is named for the main place with a suffix of “SP”.
- Small Areas
- The smallest output unit for census data; on average, each small area contains approximately 600 people.
Provinces
Provincial population
The table shows South Africa’s population by province in 2022.
Select a province below, then navigate down the hierarchy of places.
| Province | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | 7,230,304 | 11.7% |
| Free State | 2,964,412 | 4.8% |
| Gauteng | 15,099,422 | 24.3% |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 12,423,907 | 20.0% |
| Limpopo | 6,572,720 | 10.6% |
| Mpumalanga | 5,143,324 | 8.3% |
| North West | 3,804,548 | 6.1% |
| Northern Cape | 1,355,946 | 2.2% |
| Western Cape | 7,433,019 | 12.0% |
Provincial land area
The table shows the distribution of land area by province in 2022.
| Province | Area (km²) | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | 168,966 | 13.8% |
| Free State | 129,825 | 10.6% |
| Gauteng | 18,178 | 1.5% |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 94,361 | 7.7% |
| Limpopo | 125,755 | 10.3% |
| Mpumalanga | 76,495 | 6.3% |
| North West | 104,882 | 8.6% |
| Northern Cape | 372,889 | 30.5% |
| Western Cape | 129,462 | 10.6% |
MzansiMirror.com is not affiliated with Statistics South Africa, nor is it affiliated with the South African Government. Stats SA provides the basic data, while Mzansi Mirror processes the census data to produce the information displayed. We obtained population statistics from the Census 2011 Community Profile Databases, and we calculated geographical areas from the Census 2011 GIS DVD.
Also check out
➜ South African National Census of 1991
➜ South African National Census of 1996