EC population increases to seven million

11 Jul 2016 | Admin Author

The Eastern Cape's population increased from 6.6 million people in 2011 to seven million in 2016.According to Statistician General, Pali Lehohla, this now makes the Eastern Cape the third most populous province in the country, behind Gauteng with 13.4 million people and KwaZulu-Natal with 11.1 million.

Lehohla presented the findings of the mini-census to Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle on Monday.

Migration
Of the 7 million people currently residing in Eastern Cape, a majority (6,7 million or 95,4%) were born in the province. About 322 177 of Eastern Cape residents were born elsewhere in the country and outside South Africa. Of those born outside the province, a large number was born in Western Cape (101 400), followed by those who were born in Gauteng (72 921), outside South Africa (57 222), and KwaZulu-Natal (45 089). Between 2011 and 2016, Eastern Cape experienced a net-migration of -489 686, which was a result of 939 765 people emigrating from the province and 450 078 moving to the province from elsewhere.

Poverty headcount and hunger

The poverty headcount in Eastern Cape has decreased from 14,4% in 2011 to 12,7% in 2016. Decreases in the poverty headcount were observed in all district municipalities between 2011 and 2016, except in Chris Hani, where it increased from 15,6% in 2011 to 16,4% in 2016. The lowest poverty headcounts were recorded in Nelson Mandela Bay (3,0%), Sarah Baartman (4,5%) and Buffalo City (7,3%).

464 838 of households in Eastern Cape reported that they had ran out of money to buy food in the 12 months before the survey. Nearly a fifth (17,6% or 311 263) of households in Eastern Cape missed a meal over the same period.

According to the findings of the mini census the number of households in the Eastern Cape also increased to 1.8 million in 2016, from 1.7 million in 2011. Stats SA said three quarters of households in the Eastern Cape or 1.3 million have access to piped water while the number of households with access to electricity increased from 36.2% in 1996 to 85.4% in 2016.