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Statistics South Africa said the country’s “mid-year population” is estimated to have increased to 63.02 million in 2024, with females accounting for 51% of the population.
That is according to a report released on Tuesday by Statistics South Africa.
“Gauteng continues to record the largest share of the South African population, with approximately 15.83 million people (25.1%) living in this province. KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the second largest population, with an estimated 12.34 million people (19.6%) living in this province.
“With a population of approximately 1.36 million people (2.2%), Northern Cape remains the province with the smallest share of the South African population,” said Stats SA's chief director for demography and population statistics, Iturralde Diego.
South Africa’s population surpasses the 63 million mark as of 1 July 2024. The #population annual growth rate is 1,33%, up by 835 513 people since 2023.
— Stats SA (@StatsSA) July 30, 2024
Read more here: https://t.co/s3ogI7cXR1#StatsSA #MYPE2024 pic.twitter.com/AOHKLXAcgS
According to the report, 27.5% of the population is younger than 15 years (16.8 million) and approximately 9.7% (6.13 million) is 60 years or older.
“The provinces reflecting the highest percentage of children younger than 15 are Limpopo (33.2%) and the Eastern Cape (31.8%).
“The proportion of elderly persons aged 60 years and older in South Africa is increasing over time and as such policies and programmes to care for the needs of this growing population should be prioritised,” Diego said.
The report further shows that life expectancy at birth for 2024 is estimated at 63.6 years for males and 69.2 years for females while the infant mortality rate for 2024 is estimated at 22.9 per 1 000 live births.
The estimated overall HIV prevalence rate is approximately 12.7% among the South African population with the total number of people living with HIV estimated at about 8 million in 2024.
Stats SA said for the period 2021–2026, Gauteng and Western Cape are estimated to experience the largest inflow of migrants of approximately, 1 401 895 and 491 296 respectively.
