List of South African provinces by population
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since the election of 27 April 1994, South Africa has been divided into nine provinces. They vary widely in population, from the mostly-urban Gauteng, which contains over 20% of the national population, to the mostly-desert Northern Cape, which contains less than 3%. The following table shows the provincial populations according to the 2011 National Census,[1] the 2016 Community Survey,[2] and the most recent 2022 Census.[3]
| Rank | Province | Census 2011 | 2016 community survey | Census 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | Percentage | Population | Percentage | Population | Percentage | ||
| 1 | Gauteng | 12,272,263 | 23.7 | 13,399,724 | 24.1 | 15,099,422 | 24.3 |
| 2 | KwaZulu-Natal | 10,267,300 | 19.8 | 11,065,240 | 19.9 | 12,423,907 | 20.0 |
| 3 | Western Cape | 5,822,734 | 11.2 | 6,279,730 | 11.3 | 7,433,019 | 12.0 |
| 4 | Eastern Cape | 6,562,053 | 12.7 | 6,996,976 | 12.6 | 7,230,204 | 11.6 |
| 5 | Limpopo | 5,404,868 | 10.4 | 5,799,090 | 10.4 | 6,572,720 | 10.6 |
| 6 | Mpumalanga | 4,039,939 | 7.8 | 4,335,964 | 7.8 | 5,143,324 | 8.3 |
| 7 | North West | 3,509,953 | 6.8 | 3,748,435 | 6.7 | 3,804,548 | 6.1 |
| 8 | Free State | 2,745,590 | 5.3 | 2,834,714 | 5.1 | 2,964,412 | 4.8 |
| 9 | Northern Cape | 1,145,861 | 2.2 | 1,193,780 | 2.1 | 1,355,946 | 2.2 |
| South Africa | 51,770,561 | 100.0 | 55,653,654 | 100.0 | 62,027,503 | 100.0 | |
