SA’s population nearing 60m, increased by 1.89m in two years – StatsSA

Life expectancy at birth for 2020 is estimated at 62.5 years for males and 68.5 years for females.

Picture for illustration. Stranded taxi commuters queue outside Rea Vaya bus terminal at Thokoza Park in Soweto in June. This after a taxi shutdown in protest over government’s R1.135 billion relief fund for taxi operators. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

Statistics South Africa has confirmed that South Africa’s mid-year population is estimated to stand at 59.6 million in 2020, which is an increase of 1.89 million from two years ago.

According to StatsSA report, Gauteng continues to record the largest share of South Africa’s population, with approximately 15.5 million people (26%) living in this province.

KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the second-largest population, with an estimated 11.5 million people (19.3%) living in this province.

Northern Cape maintained its status as the province with the lowest population in the country with a population estimated at 1.29 million people.

Western Cape has 7 million people, Eastern Cape 6.7 million, Limpopo 5.8 million, Mpumalanga 4.6 million, North West 4.1 million and Free State 2.9 million people.

GP remains SA’s most populated province with approximately 15,5 million people. Image: Stats SA

The report indicates that approximately 51.1% (approximately 30.5 million) of the population is female.

Image: Stats SA

According to the report about 28.6% of the population is aged younger than 15 years and approximately 9.1% (5.4 million) is 60 years or older.

Of those younger than 15 years of age, the majority reside in KwaZulu-Natal (21.8%) and Gauteng (21.4%).

Of the elderly (those aged 60 years and older), the highest percentage 24.1% (1.31 million) reside in Gauteng.

The proportion of elderly persons aged 60 and over has grown from 7.6% in 2002 to 9.1% in 2020.

Youth 15 – 34 has increased by 4,2m between 2002 & 2020. Image: Stats SA

The report further shows that for the period 2016 – 2021, Gauteng and Western Cape are estimated to experience the largest inflow of migrants of approximately, 1 553 162 and 468 568, respectively.

Life expectancy at birth for 2020 is estimated at 62.5 years for males and 68.5 years for females. The infant mortality rate for 2020 is estimated at 23.6 per 1,000 live births.

The estimated overall HIV prevalence rate is approximately 1% among the South African population.

The total number of people living with HIV is estimated at approximately 7.8 million in 2020. For adults aged 15 – 49, an estimated 18.7% of the population is HIV positive.