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South Africa's latest population estimates for 2018
Date: 24 July 2018 Category: Socio-Economics |
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We take a look at the latest population estimates for South Africa as published by Statistics South Africa in their latest mid-year population estimates release, and we break it down per province on an interactive map and we calculate the population density (which in our case is calculated as the number of people living per square kilometer of a province)
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Population density
So which province has the highest population density? Or people living in it per square kilometer. The interactive map below shows the population density per province over time. And it is clear that the population density of Gauteng is by far the highest. It is South Africa's smallest province in terms of square kilometers but it is the province in South Africa with by far the biggest population. For 2018, Gauteng has over 800 people living in it per square kilometer. Placing massive strain on the infrastructure of the province, in particular traffic and time it takes to get to the office as we have highlighted before.
The table below shows the current population estimates per province, as well as the square kilometers of each of South Africa's provinces and lastly the population density (number of people per square kilometer) per province. Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga being the three most densely populated provinces in South Africa, while Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape being the top three provinces in terms of number of people living in it.
Province |
Population |
Square Kilometers |
Population Density |
Western Cape |
6 621 103 |
129 462 |
51.1 |
Eastern Cape |
6 522 734 |
168 966 |
38.6 |
Northern Cape |
1 225 555 |
372 889 |
3.3 |
Free State |
2 954 348 |
129 825 |
22.8 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
11 384 722 |
94 361 |
120.7 |
North West |
3 978 955 |
104 882 |
37.9 |
Gauteng |
14 717 040 |
18 178 |
809.6 |
Mpumalanga |
4 523 874 |
76 495 |
59.1 |
Limpopo |
5 797 275 |
125 755 |
46.1 |
Total |
57 725 606 |
1 220 813 |
Average: 47.28 |
Based on the data above 25% of South Africa's population lives in Gauteng, while Gauteng only makes up 1.49% of the total land area of South Africa. And this is all in the pursuit of jobs. People from other provinces, and other countries (in particular other African countries) flock to Gauteng in the hopes of finding a job. The problem is that they end up being disappointed, as Gauteng's unemployment rate has been steadily increasing over time due to businesses in the province not being able to absorb all the labour or potential labour flocking to the province. In a recent article we published we show that more than 50% of Gauteng's population was made up by foreigners (those born outside the borders of South Africa).
A lot of the people that move to Gauteng in the hopes of finding jobs end up in informal settlements such as SOWETO and squatter camps scattered across the province. There is no clearer sign of the inequality in South Africa than Sandton on the one side and SOWETO on the other. With sickening wealth and exorbitince on the one side and abject poverty on the other.
The Western Cape has also experience strong growth in employment numbers in recent years. A large number of older people pick the Western Cape as the province of choice to retire in. But this is not the only reason, as it is seen as one of if not the best run province in South Africa and people move there in order to have access to better government and municipal services supplied.
The worry for South Africans and its economy is the fact that South Africa's economic growth rate is hardly keeping up with the growth in South Africa's population which means the pie every one wants a part of is not growing as fast as the number of people wanting a slice of the pie. Essentially South Africa's GDP per capita (the total value of South Africa's economy divided by the number of people living in it) is declining. So essentially the average South African's prosperity is moving backwards/declining instead of overall wealth per person in the country increasing.
South Africa's economy grew by 1.05% over the last 4 quarters (1 year) while South Africa's population grew by 1.7%. So South Africa's population is growing almost twice as fast as its economy. And this is not sustainable in the long run as this would send more and more people into poverty and unemployment which will lead to greater social upheaval, protests, demands for change etc.
Hard work ahead for the government of South Africa. They should be worried about the strong continued growth in the population of the country.
The Western Cape has also experience strong growth in employment numbers in recent years. A large number of older people pick the Western Cape as the province of choice to retire in. But this is not the only reason, as it is seen as one of if not the best run province in South Africa and people move there in order to have access to better government and municipal services supplied.
The worry for South Africans and its economy is the fact that South Africa's economic growth rate is hardly keeping up with the growth in South Africa's population which means the pie every one wants a part of is not growing as fast as the number of people wanting a slice of the pie. Essentially South Africa's GDP per capita (the total value of South Africa's economy divided by the number of people living in it) is declining. So essentially the average South African's prosperity is moving backwards/declining instead of overall wealth per person in the country increasing.
South Africa's economy grew by 1.05% over the last 4 quarters (1 year) while South Africa's population grew by 1.7%. So South Africa's population is growing almost twice as fast as its economy. And this is not sustainable in the long run as this would send more and more people into poverty and unemployment which will lead to greater social upheaval, protests, demands for change etc.
Hard work ahead for the government of South Africa. They should be worried about the strong continued growth in the population of the country.