Demographics of South Africa

According to the 2022 census, the population ofSouth Africais about 62 million people of diverse origins, cultures,languages, andreligions. With a majority being Black Africans.TheSouth African National Census of 2022was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032.
In 2011,Statistics South Africacounted 2.1 million foreigners in total.Reportssuggest that is an underestimation. The real figure may be as high as five million,including some three millionZimbabweans.
The earliest creatures that can be identified as human ancestors in South Africa areaustralopithecines. The first evidence of this was achild's skullfound in theTaungquarry site. This was in the modern dayNorth-West province. Morefossilsaustralopithecines were found in limestone cavesSterkfontein,Swartkrans, andKromdaai.
South African population figures for the 1904 Census.
Sources:Statesman's Year-Book1967–1968;Europa Year Book1969
Bantustandemographics were removed from South African census data duringApartheidand for this reason official figures on the national population of the country during that period will be inaccurate.
Source:The People of South Africa: Population Census, 1996
Source:Statistics South Africa: Census 2001
Source:Census 2011: Census in Brief
Source:Census 2022 Statistical Release
According to the 2019 revision of theUnited Nations Secretariat'sWorld Population Prospects, South Africa's total population was 55,386,000 in 2015, compared to only 13,628,000 in 1950. In 2015, 29.3% of the people were children under the age of 15, 65.7% were between 15 and 64 years of age, and 5.0% were 65 or older.All population estimates are rounded to the nearest thousand.
The following statistics are obtained from the mid-year population estimates published byStatistics South Africa:
ThePopulation Department of the United Nationsprepared the following estimates.(Natural increase or decrease over a time period is the difference between that period's live births and deaths, before accounting for inward or outward migration.)
Racial composition of each age group in 2015 (estimates)
Source:
Fertility rate(TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):
Fertility rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) by ethnic group.
Life expectancy at birthfrom 1950 to 2020 (UN World Population Prospects):
Statistics South Africaasks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of fiveracialpopulation groups.The2011 censusfigures for these groups wereAfricanat 80.2%,Whiteat 8.4%,Colouredat 8.8%,Indian/Asianat 2.5%, and Other/Unspecified at 0.5%.
The white percentage of the population has sharply declined. The first census in South Africa in 1911 showed that whites made up 22% of the population. This declined to 16% in 1980,8.9% in 2011 and 7.65% in 2022.Coloured South Africans replaced Whites as the largest minority group around 2010.
South Africa has twelveofficial languages:isiZulu24.4%,isiXhosa16.3%,Afrikaans10.6%,English8.7%,Sepedi10.0%,Setswana8.3%,Sesotho7.8%,Xitsonga4.7%,siSwati2.8%,Tshivenda2.5%,isiNdebele1.7% andSouth African Sign Language.
In this regard, it is third only toBoliviaandIndiain number. While all the languages are formally equal, some languages are spoken more than others. According to the2022 census, the three most spoken languages in the household are Zulu (24.4%), Xhosa (16.3%), and Afrikaans (10.6%).
Between 1996 and 2022, the proportion of Afrikaans speakers declined from 14.5% to 10.6% and English held steady at 8.7%, whle isiZulu grew from 22.8% to 24.4%, and Xhosa declined from 17.9% to 16.3%
The country also recognises several unofficial languages, includingSekholokoe,Fanagalo,Khwe,Lobedu,Nama,Northern Ndebele,PhuthiandSan.These unofficial languages may be used in certain official uses in limited areas where it has been determined that these languages are prevalent. Nevertheless, their populations are not such that they require nationwide recognition.
Many of the "unofficial languages" of theSanandKhoikhoi peoplecontainregional dialectsstretching northwards intoNamibiaandBotswana, and elsewhere. These people, who are a physically distinct population from other Africans, have their own cultural identity based on their hunter-gatherer societies. They have been marginalised to a great extent, and many of their languages are in danger of becomingextinct.
Many white South Africans also speak otherEuropean languages, such asPortuguese(also spoken by blackAngolansandMozambicans),German,SerbianandGreek, while some Indians and other Asians in South Africa speakSouth Asian languages, such asBhojpuri,Tamil,Hindi,Gujarati,UrduandTelugu. Although many South Africans are ofHuguenot(French) origin, South African French is spoken by fewer than 10,000 individuals country-wide. Congolese French is also spoken in South Africa by migrants.
The primary sign language ofdeafSouth Africans isSouth African Sign Language. Othersign languagesamong indigenous peoples are also used.
In 2011, the first language wasZulufor 28.1% of Black South African residents,Xhosafor 19.8%,Sepedifor 11.2%,Tswanafor 9.7%,Sesothofor 9.3%,Tsongafor 5.5%,siSwatifor 3.1%,Vendafor 2.9%, English for 2.8%,Southern Ndebelefor 2.6%,Afrikaansfor 1.5%, while 3.4% had another first language.
Among whites, Afrikaans was the first language for 59.1% of the population, compared to 35.0% for English. Other languages accounted for the remaining 5.9%.
According to the 2022 national census,Christiansaccounted for 85.3% of the population.This includesProtestant(36.6%),Zionist Christian(11.1%),Pentecostal/Charismatic(8.2%),Roman Catholic(7.1%),Methodist(6.8%),Dutch Reformed(6.7%),Anglican(3.8%); members of other Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population.Muslimsaccounted for 1.5% of the population, Other 2.3%, and 1.4% were Unspecified and None 15.1%.
Muslimsare largely found among theColouredandIndianethnic groups. They have been joined by black or white South African converts as well as immigrants from other parts of Africa.South African Muslims claim that their faith is the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004.
TheHindupopulation has its roots in theBritish colonial period, but later waves of immigration from India have also contributed to it. Most Hindus are of South Asian origin, but there are many who come from mixed racial stock. Some are converts due to the efforts ofISKCON.
Other minority religions in South Africa areSikhism,Jainism,Baháʼí FaithandJudaism.
86.0% of black residents are Christian, 3.0% haveno religion, 0.3% are Muslim, 0.0% areJewish, 0.0% areHindu, 9.5%Traditional Africanand 1.2% have other or undetermined beliefs (2022 Census).
90.1% of white residents are Christian, 4.9% have no religion, 0.3% are Muslim, 0.7% are Jewish, and 0.1% are Hindu. 3.9% have other or undetermined beliefs (2022 Census).
The following demographics are from theCIA World Factbookunless otherwise indicated.
note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout South Africa; as of 6 June 2022, South Africa has reported a total of 3,968,205 cases of COVID-19 or 6,690.7 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with a total of 101,317 cumulative deaths or a rate of 170.83 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 6 June 2022, 36.33% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
South Africa hosts a sizeablerefugeeandasylum seekerpopulation. According to theWorld Refugee Survey 2008, published by theU.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, this population numbered approximately 144,700 in 2007.Groups of refugees and asylum seekers numbering over 10,000 included people fromZimbabwe(48,400), theDemocratic Republic of the Congo(24,800), andSomalia(12,900).These populations mainly lived inJohannesburg,Pretoria,Durban,Cape Town, andPort Elizabeth.Many refugees have now also started to work and live in rural areas in provinces such asMpumalangaandKwaZulu-Natal.
Statistics SAassumes in some of their calculations that there are fewer than 2 million immigrants in South Africa.Other institutions, like the police andMédecins Sans Frontièresplace estimate the figure at 4 million.
Main countries of immigration in South Africa according to the 2011 Census and 2022 Census:
Immigration assumptions by Statistics South Africa to South Africa based on race.  Negative numbers represent net migration from South Africa to other countries.
"Urban areas contain about two-thirds of the population; many of these consist of huge informal orsquatter settlements."