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In today's blog we take a look at South Africa's different provinces in more detail. From geographic size, to economic size to the number of people staying in each province. This article will provide readers with greater insights into South Africa's province, not only in terms of actual size of each province but the size of their respective economies, their populations and unemployment rates.
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Geographic size vs Economic Size?
When the question is asked which province in South Africa is the biggest, one has to specify, biggest in terms of actual square kilometers covered or biggest in terms of economic size, or population size? The table below provides a bit more detail regarding South Africa's different provinces.
Province |
Square meters covered (rank in bracket) |
Population (rank in bracket) |
Economic Size (rank in bracket) |
Western Cape |
129 462 (4th biggest) |
6 293 200 (4th biggest) |
R422.5bil (3rd biggest) |
Eastern Cape |
168 996 (2nd biggest) |
7 061 700 (3rd biggest) |
R231bil (4th biggest) |
Northern Cape |
372 889 (The biggest) |
1 191 700 (The smallest) |
R67.3bil (The smallest) |
Free State |
129 825 (3rd biggest) |
2 861 600 (8th biggest) |
R160.2bil (8th biggest) |
KwaZulu-Natal |
94 361(7th biggest) |
11 079 700 (2nd biggest) |
R487.9bil (2nd biggest) |
North West |
104 882 (6th biggest) |
3 790 600 (7th biggest) |
R188.1bil (7th biggest) |
Gauteng |
18 178 (The smallest) |
13 498 200 (The biggest) |
R1 063bil (The biggest) |
Mpumalanga |
74 495 (8th biggest) |
4 328 300 (6th biggest) |
R222.7bil (5th biggest) |
Limpopo |
125 755 (5th biggest) |
5 803 900 (5th biggest) |
R221bil (6th biggest) |
From the table above two things stand out immediately, Only two provinces are ranked the highest and lowest. Firstly the Northern Cape is ranked in first position when it comes to square kilometers covered as it is by far the biggest province in terms of square kilometers covered. The Northern Cape is 20 times the size of Gauteng (which is South Africa's smallest province). South Africa's second smallest province, Mpumalanga is 4 times the size of Gauteng. Just showing how small Gauteng is in terms of square kilometers covered. The Eastern Cape and Free State make up the rest of the top 3 provinces in terms of square kilometers covered.
While Gauteng might be very small in terms of actual square kilometers covered, it has the most number of people living in it. Far more than any of the other provinces. Northern Cape which s the biggest province in terms of square kilometers covered has the least amount of people living in it. Gauteng's population is 11 times the population of the Northern Cape yet its only 5% of the size of the Northern Cape. Needless to say the population density per square kilometer is therefore a lot higher in Gauteng than it is in the Northern Cape.
Other big provinces in terms of population numbers are KwaZulu-Natal with over 11million people, Eastern Cape with around 7million people and the Western Cape with just over 6million people.
Other big provinces in terms of population numbers are KwaZulu-Natal with over 11million people, Eastern Cape with around 7million people and the Western Cape with just over 6million people.
So of the two variables looked at so far, Northern Cape has the biggest land area covered, but the least amount of people living in it, while Gauteng has the smallest land area covered but has the highest population figure. The third variable looked at shows the economic size of each of the provinces (in Rand billions). And we find once again that Gauteng is the largest while the Northern Cape is the smallest. Gauteng's economy makes up roughly 35% of South Africa's economy, with KwaZulu-Natal coming in in 2n place with 15.9% of South Africa's total economy and the Western Cape taking 3rd spot with 13.8% of South Africa's economy.
With the majority of economic activity happening in Gauteng, it is no real surprise that people flock to Gauteng in their numbers in search of work and access to South Africa's economy. The graphic below takes a look at migration into Gauteng from other provinces and outside of South Africa.
This massive migration into Gauteng does put significant strain on it's infrastructure and is a contributing factor to significant polution and increased traffic on Gauteng's roads. The question one has to ask is whether there are enough jobs for all those flooding into Gauteng? And the answer to that question is NO. Gauteng and it's major metros have some of the highest unemployment rates recorded in South Africa. The table below takes a look at the unemployment rate per province in South Africa.
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Note table is based on Q4:2016 data as published by Statistics South Africa's quarterly labour force survey (QLFS). As the table shows, Gauteng does not rank very highly when it comes to unemployment with it sitting 3rd highest unemployment rate in South Africa. And the surprise being Limpopo with the lowest recorded unemployment rate (just ahead of the Western Cape) with an unemployment rate of 20.5% .
While Gauteng does rank as the most populated province in South Africa and has the biggest economy of all the provinces in South Africa, it is the smallest in terms of square kilometers covered and it doesnt rank very well when looking at unemployment rates. The rankings of Gauteng is pretty volatile with it taking a few first places, a last place and a relatively weak ranking for unemployment figures. Favoured retirement province, Western Cape has a relatively stable ranking through all the measures. It ranks as the 4th biggest in terms of square kilometers, as well as population, it comes in 3rd in terms of economic size and ranks 2nd when looking at unemployment rates.
One wonders when citizens will start catching on this and start heading towards the Western Cape in the hope of finding jobs and access to the economy instead of flooding to Gauteng? And if this were to happen one wonders if the Western Cape has the infrastructure to cope with an influx of people, especially the water resources considering the severe drought the province has experienced in the recent past.
We placing our money on the Western Cape economy to grow at faster rate than the other provinces over the next 5 to 10 years. It has been the second fastest growing economy from 2010 to 2015 (just behind Gauteng). The table below shows the growth rate per province from 2010 to 2015 and the ranking in brackets. Watch out Gauteng, Western Cape is coming for you.
While Gauteng does rank as the most populated province in South Africa and has the biggest economy of all the provinces in South Africa, it is the smallest in terms of square kilometers covered and it doesnt rank very well when looking at unemployment rates. The rankings of Gauteng is pretty volatile with it taking a few first places, a last place and a relatively weak ranking for unemployment figures. Favoured retirement province, Western Cape has a relatively stable ranking through all the measures. It ranks as the 4th biggest in terms of square kilometers, as well as population, it comes in 3rd in terms of economic size and ranks 2nd when looking at unemployment rates.
One wonders when citizens will start catching on this and start heading towards the Western Cape in the hope of finding jobs and access to the economy instead of flooding to Gauteng? And if this were to happen one wonders if the Western Cape has the infrastructure to cope with an influx of people, especially the water resources considering the severe drought the province has experienced in the recent past.
We placing our money on the Western Cape economy to grow at faster rate than the other provinces over the next 5 to 10 years. It has been the second fastest growing economy from 2010 to 2015 (just behind Gauteng). The table below shows the growth rate per province from 2010 to 2015 and the ranking in brackets. Watch out Gauteng, Western Cape is coming for you.
Province |
Economic growth, 2010-2015 (ranking in bracket) |
Western Cape |
13.3% (2nd highest) |
Eastern Cape |
9.2% (7th highest) |
Northern Cape |
12% (4th highest) |
Free State |
8.8% (8th highest) |
KwaZulu-Natal |
12.5% (3rd highest) |
North West |
4.4% (Lowest) |
Gauteng |
13.5% (Highest) |
Mpumalanga |
31% (6th highest) |
Limpopo |
19.3% (5th highest) |