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This page is dedicated to providing readers with numbers and data regarding South Africa as a whole as well as its economy. We will take a look at South Africa's population, SA's biggest and most important industries, number of people employed in South Africa. Number of cars on SA's roads (number of cars per province as well as the number of cars per square kilometer in each provinces). South Africa's credit ratings history. You name it this page has it. Enjoy.
We will update this page on ad hoc basis. |
How many people live in South Africa and where do they stay?
The first question that needs to be answered is just how many people stay in South Africa. And which province has the biggest population? In addition to looking at the number of people living in each province, we will also take a look at the size of each province in terms of square kilometers and calculate the population density per province from this. The table below shows the number of people staying in each province, the square kilometers of each province and the population density of each province which we calculate by determining the number of people staying per square kilometer per province.
Province |
Population |
Square Kilometers |
Population Density |
Western Cape |
6 293 200 |
129 462 |
48.6 |
Eastern Cape |
7 061 700 |
168 966 |
41.7 |
Northern Cape |
1 191 700 |
372 889 |
3.2 |
Free State |
2 861 600 |
129 825 |
22 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
11 079 700 |
94 361 |
117.4 |
North West |
3 790 600 |
104 882 |
36.1 |
Gauteng |
13 498 200 |
18 178 |
742.6 |
Mpumalanga |
4 328 300 |
76 495 |
56.6 |
Limpopo |
5 803 900 |
125 755 |
46.2 |
Total |
55 908 900 |
1 220 813 |
Average: 45.8 |
From the table it is clear that the largest province in terms of number of people staying in it is Gauteng. However Gauteng is by far the smallest province in South Africa in terms of square kilometers of space. And it therefore makes Gauteng South Africas most densily populated province, with an average of 742 per square kilometer. On the other side of the spectrum is the Northern Cape, with it being by far the least populated province in South Africa while it is the largest province in terms of square kilometers, making the Northern Cape South Africa's least densily populated provinces with only 3.2 people per square kilometer. South Africa's total population is sitting at just under 56million people and South Africa has an average population density of 45.8 people per square kilometer.
According to South Africa's mid year population estimates as published by Statistics South Africa South Africans have the following life expectancy.
The result is encouraging and it shows that South Africans life expectancy is improving, showing an overall improvements in the health and welfare of South Africans. Increased life expectancy could be due to a range of factors. Healthier lifestyles, greater access to basic services as well as improved access and greater healthcare treatment. Females are expected to live longer than their male counterparts.
So we know females are expected to live longer than males. However the question that has not been answered yet is what percentage of people living in South Africa are male and what percentage is female? According to the mid year population estimates for 2016, 51.02% of the South African population are female whjile 48.98% of the population are males.
Breaking the population down by race group we find the following:
Black/African: 80.7%
White: 8.1%
Indian/Asian: 2.6%
Coloured: 8%
Breaking the population down by race group we find the following:
Black/African: 80.7%
White: 8.1%
Indian/Asian: 2.6%
Coloured: 8%
How big is South Africa's economic pie?
Now that we know how many people stay in South Africa and know where they stay, the next question is how big is their share of the economic pie? the most well known measure to measure at a glance the welfare of a country's citizens is to look at the GDP per capita. Or phrased differently, the size of country's economy expressed per person living in it. Just how much is South Africa's economy worth per person if the total worth of the economy was divided and evenly distributed amongst it citizens? The table below shows the atual worth of the economy (expressed in 2010 prices, thus effects of inflation removed), in both 2010 and 2016, as well as the total population and the GDP per capita (in Rands) for both years.
Year |
Total Value of economy |
Population |
GDP per capita |
GDP per capita (in USD) |
2010 |
R2 748 007 953 479 |
49 991 300 |
R54 970 |
$7 509 |
2016 |
R3 071 660 137 461 |
55 908 900 |
R54 940 |
$3 737 |
As the table above shows while the total value of SA's economy has increased from 2010 to 2016, so has South Africa's population. and in effect South Africans are now worse off than they were in 2010 when looking at GDP per capita. And the main reason for this is the fact that South Africa's slow economic growth from 2010 to 2016 has not managed to increase at a rate faster than the population growth. All this means more and more people are sharing the economic pie but the pie size is not increasing fast enough to keep up with the increase in number of people sharing the pie. When looking at the GDP per capita expressed in US dollars South Africa has gone backwards quiet substantially in recent years. Thus when SA's GDP per capita (expressed in US dollars) is compared to its peers internationally South Africa has fallen down the world rankings in terms of their citizens net worth expressed in US dollars.
So sluggish economic growth, faster than economic growth growing poulation and a poor performing currency has seen South African's GDP per capita stagnate in Rand terms and pretty much half in US Dollar terms.
So sluggish economic growth, faster than economic growth growing poulation and a poor performing currency has seen South African's GDP per capita stagnate in Rand terms and pretty much half in US Dollar terms.
Which province makes up the largest part of South Africa's economy?
A question that we get regularly is the question of which province is the biggest. We then asked, biggest in terms of population, square kilometers or economic size? Since the first two have been answered in this article already, we will now turn our attention to the economic size of each province. What percentage does each province make up of South Africa's total economy. The pie chart below provides the answer to this specific question. Chart based on 2015 GDP data as published by Stats SA.
From the pie chart it is clear that Gauteng is by far the largest contributor to South Africa's economy (with it making up over a third of SA's economy). It might be the smallest in terms of square kilometers but it clearly punches well above its weight when it comes to economic size. And the main reason for this is the fact that significant development took place in Johannesburg in the very late 1800's with the "gold rush" as prospectors flooded to the then Transvaal hoping to get rich by mining gold in the area. This significant influx of people and the coinciding development of the area has made the then Transvaal and now Gauteng into the economic super hub of South Africa.
Other significant provinces are KwaZulu-Natal (15.93%), this is largely due to the port activity taking place in Durban. And the same can be said about the Western Cape (13.79%) with their ports operating. The smallest contributor to South Africas economy is the Northern Cape (which as we found out earlier, South Africa's largest province in terms of land area or square kilometers).
Other significant provinces are KwaZulu-Natal (15.93%), this is largely due to the port activity taking place in Durban. And the same can be said about the Western Cape (13.79%) with their ports operating. The smallest contributor to South Africas economy is the Northern Cape (which as we found out earlier, South Africa's largest province in terms of land area or square kilometers).
Which sectors are the biggest contributors to South Africa's economy
We now know which provinces contribute to SA's economy. The next question that needs answering is which industries make up the South Africa's economy. Is Mining still an important industry for South Africa? Or has it been replaced by another industry? The pie chart below shows the contributions of the various industries to SA's economy. Chart based on 2016 GDP data as published by Stats SA.
The biggest industry by far in South Africa is the Finance, Real Estate and Business Services industry in South Africa, with it making up around 20% of South Africa's economy, the government sector making up around 15% of SA's economy and then the Trade (wholesale, retail and motor trade) and accomodation industry coming in in third place with 13.9% of SA's economy. While mining might be a great source of employment in South Africa its overall importance in SA's economy is sitting at well under 10%, with 7.33% of SA's economy. The same can be said about Agriculture. While loads of informal sector employment takes place in this industry it only contributes 2.14% to South Africas economy.
Employment in the South African economy
We have looked at the size of South Africa's population, its provinces and its economy. Question is how many people are employed in South Africa and in which industries do they work? The bar chart below shows the average employment level per industry for the year 2016 based on data published by the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).
According to the results of the QLFS the largest employing industry in South Africa is the community and social services industry. This industry is largely made up by government departments. National, provincial and municipal departments, with NGO's and other community serving companies making up a small portion of this industry. The trade industry (wholesale, retail and motor trade) employes well over 3million people while the Finance industry employes over 2million people with manufacturing around 1,7million people. Construction while being a relatively small industry in terms of economic size, employs almost 1,5million people.
People employed under private households include domestic workers, nannies, gardeners and pool boys etc.
In total for 2016, roughly 15.78million people reported to have done some form of remunerative work during the course of the year.
People employed under private households include domestic workers, nannies, gardeners and pool boys etc.
In total for 2016, roughly 15.78million people reported to have done some form of remunerative work during the course of the year.
What do South Africans spend their hard earned money on?
The following section will take a look at what South African spend their money on. And we will base our analysis on the recently published new Consumer Price Index (CPI) weights as published by Stats SA. The aim of the CPI basket is to capture price movements over time of items and or goods and services that South Africans from across the country and across various income groups buy on a regular basis, or spend a lot of money on with ad hoc purchases (such as new vehicles). The basket of goods and services are then assigned weights (the relative importance of each item). And these weights are based on the actual expenditure that took place on these items. (The bulk of the expenditure data comes from an Income and Expenditure survey run by Stats SA. Or from a Living Conditions Survey (LCS), also conducted by Stats SA. We are told that additional data sources such as retail data and tax data and other administrative data sources are used to verify and increase the accuracy of the weights.
Based on the above, the CPI basket provides an accurate reflection of what type of items South Africans buy. The bar chart below shows the 12 main expenditure groups that South Africans spend their hard earned money on.
Based on the above, the CPI basket provides an accurate reflection of what type of items South Africans buy. The bar chart below shows the 12 main expenditure groups that South Africans spend their hard earned money on.
The above bar chart shows per R100 spent by South Africans, where each Rand is going. So for every R100 spent by South Africans, R17.24 goes towards Food and non alcoholic beverages. The largest expenditure group in South Africa is the Housing and Utilities group. This relates to all spending on housing (rent, owner occupied rent, water, rates and electricity). With almost a quarter of all money spent by South Africans going towards housing and utilities. For every R100 South Africans spend R24.62 goes towards this grouping.
Expenditure on health might look very low, but this is due to the fact that Medical Aid spending is grouped under miscellaneous (as all forms of insurance, car, household, health etc. is grouped under this category based on the classification system used). Readers should therefore not be alarmed when looking at spending on health. As a large portion of health spending falls under the miscellaneous group.
Expenditure on health might look very low, but this is due to the fact that Medical Aid spending is grouped under miscellaneous (as all forms of insurance, car, household, health etc. is grouped under this category based on the classification system used). Readers should therefore not be alarmed when looking at spending on health. As a large portion of health spending falls under the miscellaneous group.
Made locally or imported?
So we now know what consumers buy? Question is is the stuff made locally in South Africa or is it exported? We will take a brief look at South Africa's manufacturing output and will then take a look at what South Africa imports and exports (and where our imports are coming from and our exports are heading). The bar chart below shows the total worth of South Africas manufacturing output per year (after adjustments for inflation). Note the manufacturing output for Jan 2017 to March 2017 was extrapolated to get an estimate for 2017 as a whole.
As can be seen from the bar chart above, manufacturing output after adjusting for inflation has been declining in recent years, while the average value of manufactured goods per year from 2010 to 2017 is about R1.451trillion. While this is a lot, it is roughly half the size of SA's total economic output which is just over R3trillion.
Imports and Exports
So we get this question a lot. Who is South Africa's biggest trading partners. I.e where does most of South Africa's exports go? Or where does South Africa's imports come from? The two graphics below shows South Africa's 10 biggest trading partners for the first three months of 2017 (Quarter 1, 2017) for both our exports and our imports.
Imports
As the pie chart shows, China is by far South Africa's biggest import origin with almost 20% of South Africa's imports come from China. With Germany in 2nd place with it supplying roughly 12.3% of SA's imports while the United States of America comes in at a distant 3rd place with about 6.5% of SA's imports. Saudi Arabia comes in at 4th place with 4.96% of SA's imports (this is thanks to all the crude oil South Africa imports from Saudi Arabia).
lease note the labels on the actual pie chart shows the contribution of a country when compared to the rest of the Top 10. The values at the bottom of the pie chart shows the actual contribution of the country to Total Imports of South Africa.
lease note the labels on the actual pie chart shows the contribution of a country when compared to the rest of the Top 10. The values at the bottom of the pie chart shows the actual contribution of the country to Total Imports of South Africa.
Exports
As was the case with South Africa's imports, it is again dominated by China, Germany and the United States of America. With these three countries claiming the top 3 spots for SA's exports as they did with South Africa's imports. Botswana and Namibia being significant export countries for South Africa, with SA being part of SACU (Southern Africa Customs Union) a large amount of trade takes place with the BLNS (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland) countries.
Please note the labels on the actual pie chart shows the contribution of a country when compared to the rest of the Top 10. The values at the bottom of the pie chart shows the actual contribution of the country to Total Exports of South Africa.
Please note the labels on the actual pie chart shows the contribution of a country when compared to the rest of the Top 10. The values at the bottom of the pie chart shows the actual contribution of the country to Total Exports of South Africa.
So its all good and well to know who South Africa's trading partners are. But the next question is what exactly is South Africa importing and exporting from and to our trading partners? What do we as South Africa export to the rest of the world. And what do we as South Africa import from the rest of the world?
The next graphic provides a bit more detail regarding the types of goods and services South Africa Imports and Exports.
The next graphic provides a bit more detail regarding the types of goods and services South Africa Imports and Exports.
The graphic above shows the 99 main groups countries use to classify the goods being imported or exported. The coding system is called the Harmonised System (or HS) in short and is used by all countries in order to make comparisons of trade easier. What is clear from the graphic is that South Africa exports a large number of precious metals, ores and motor vehicles. While at the same time it imports a lot of crude oil and machinery and equipment and vehicle components (basically parts used to build vehicles that we then export again). Some of the vehicle brands being built in South Africa and then exported to various markets include Volkswagen (for local use and exported back to Germany or the UK, as the UK uses right hand drive model cars just like South Africa). Mercedes-Benz (exported to the USA) and BMW (for local use and exports to various destinations).
Not only do we build cars we buy and drive them too.
South Africa has a number of vehicle production lines which includes those of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and cars built on behalf of GM (such as Opel for example). And since we are discussing vehicles, the next graphic will show the most popular car brands in South Africa (based on new vehicles sales in South Africa for 2016).
The graphic shows that there is a titanic battle at the Top of the new vehicle sales charts with Volkswagen and Toyota fighting it out for top spot while Ford comes in a distant 3rd place. And from there the rest of the vehicle manufactures are fighting for scraps as the market is totally dominated by the top 3 brands in South Africa.
Great so South Africans like their new cars. Question is just how many of them are on South African roads? And were exactly are they located? The table below shows the number of live registered vehicles per province based on the latest Enatis data available. The table below also shows the number of vehicles that can be found per square kilometer in each province. And based on the table below it is no surprise that Gauteng is known for its massive traffic jams.
Great so South Africans like their new cars. Question is just how many of them are on South African roads? And were exactly are they located? The table below shows the number of live registered vehicles per province based on the latest Enatis data available. The table below also shows the number of vehicles that can be found per square kilometer in each province. And based on the table below it is no surprise that Gauteng is known for its massive traffic jams.
Province |
Number of vehicles |
Square Kilometers |
Vehicles per square kilometer |
Western Cape |
1 229 873 |
129 462 |
9.5 |
Eastern Cape |
443 223 |
168 966 |
2.6 |
Northern Cape |
125 421 |
372 889 |
0.34 |
Free State |
309 058 |
129 825 |
2.38 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
969 623 |
94 361 |
10.3 |
North West |
310 221 |
104 882 |
3 |
Gauteng |
2 951 617 |
18 178 |
162.4 |
Mpumalanga |
413 074 |
76 495 |
5.4 |
Limpopo |
319 866 |
125 755 |
2.5 |
Total |
7 071 976 |
1 220 813 |
Average: 5.8 |
Not surprising to see is the fact that the most number of cars can be found in Gauteng. As this is the economic hub of South Africa, the most amount of money is available in this province and as we saw earlier it is the province with the biggest population and by virtue of the fact that there are more people in Gauteng, there are more vehicles in this province.
SA's "credit ratings" history
Very topical right now is South Africa's credit ratings that are sitting at "junk status" from two of the three big ratings agencies. This is however not the first time that South Africa's credit ratings have been set at "junk status". The graphic below shows South Africa's credit rating history from 1994. Only Moody's have not classified South Africa as "junk status" in the past and haven't done so now, while S&P and Fitch has classified South Africa's credit rating as "junk" in the past and currently has it as "junk"
The question for South African's now is whether Moodies will rate South Africa as "junk status", and whether further ratings downgrades is on the card for South Africa, considering it's political instability, state capture/corruption, and its low to no economic growth.