South Africa’s population grew to 62 million last year, from 51.7 million in 2011. That’s according to Census 2022, which was officially released today.

The Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke, officially handed over the Census 2022 report to President Cyril Ramaphosa, and announced the results of the population and housing count to the country at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday.

7.4 million people live in Western Cape, a big jump from the 3.3 million recorded in 2011. The province is now the third most populated province in the country.

Census 2022 revealed that Afrikaans is the third most spoken language in the country. English is the fifth most spoken countrywide.

Some of the other statistics that emerged include:

• The number of households in South Africa has almost doubled, from 9,1 million in 1996 to 17,8 million in 2022.
• Households that resided in Western Cape (93,9%) and Gauteng (89,7%) had greater access to flush toilets.
• The percentage of households with no access to piped water has more than halved, from 19,7% in 1996 to 8,7% in 2022.
• Households with access to #electricity for lighting increased from 58,1% in 1996 to 94,7% in 2022.
• Households that resided in formal dwellings increased from 65,1% in 2011 to 88,5% in 2022.
• In 2022, 31,6% of persons aged 20 years and older had some secondary education; 37,6% had completed secondary education.
• 6 out of 10 children between the ages 0–4 years had access to some form of early childhood development (ECD) programme.
• Almost 400 000 persons moved into Gauteng between 2011 and 2022. The Western Cape saw an influx of 294 000 people over the same period.
• 24,4% of households speak isiZulu, which remained the most spoken language between 1996 and 2022. This is followed by isiXhosa (16,3%) and Afrikaans (10,6%).
• Nationally, the median age increased from 22 years old in 1996 to 28 years old in 2022, an overall increase of 6 years.
• In 2022, there were 50,5 million black Africans in South Africa, accounting for over 81% of the South African population, followed by coloured people (5,1 million).
• Gauteng remains the largest province in South Africa, with 15,1 million people. The province has grown by 2,8 million from 2011 to 2022.

Census 2022 was the fourth population and housing count in post-apartheid South Africa, with the first conducted in 1996, with subsequent censuses being conducted in 2001 and 2011.

Stats SA will be following the trend adopted by many countries and data will be released in phases.

For phase one, the Census 2022 launch will only cover reports and indicators at the national, provincial, district and local municipality levels.

“Census data is an important data source used for planning and evidence-based decision making by government and various sectors of society.

“The census population count provides data on the demographic, economic and social makeup of the country. Furthermore, findings from censuses are key in tracking service delivery programmes over time,” said the Presidency.