The latest census data released by Statistics South Africa has revealed that the nation’s population has surged to a staggering 62.0 million people, marking significant growth since the last count in 2011 when it stood at 51.8 million.
This demographic transformation, showcased in the census report unveiled on Tuesday, paints a picture of South Africa’s evolving population dynamics. Notably, approximately eight out of every ten individuals identified as Black African in 2022, while fewer than one in ten identified as white.
The data also spotlighted the complex tapestry of South Africa’s society, with more than 2.4 million migrants calling the country home in the past year. The leading contributor to this migrant influx was neighboring Zimbabwe, accounting for a substantial 45.5% of migrants, followed by Mozambique and Lesotho.
It is noteworthy that this census marks only the fourth since South Africa’s inaugural democratic elections in 1994 and the first to be conducted in over a decade.
Delays in data collection, attributed to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, had hindered the previous attempts at conducting this essential national survey.
