List of South African provinces by population

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, the 2016 Community Survey, and the most recent 2022 Census.

List

RankProvinceCensus 20112016 community surveyCensus 2022PopulationPercentagePopulationPercentagePopulationPercentage1Gauteng12,272,26323.713,399,72424.115,099,42224.32KwaZulu-Natal10,267,30019.811,065,24019.912,423,90720.03Western Cape5,822,73411.26,279,73011.37,433,01912.04Eastern Cape6,562,05312.76,996,97612.67,230,20411.65Limpopo5,404,86810.45,799,09010.46,572,72010.66Mpumalanga4,039,9397.84,335,9647.85,143,3248.37North West3,509,9536.83,748,4356.73,804,5486.18Free State2,745,5905.32,834,7145.12,964,4124.89Northern Cape1,145,8612.21,193,7802.11,355,9462.2South Africa51,770,561100.055,653,654100.062,027,503100.0

Historical data

Since the creation of the current provinces in 1994 there have been three censuses, in 1996, 2001 and 2011.

ProvinceCensus 1996PercentageCensus 2001PercentageCensus 2011PercentageGauteng7,348,42318.18,837,17819.712,272,26323.7KwaZulu-Natal8,417,02120.79,426,01721.010,267,30019.8Eastern Cape6,302,52515.56,436,76314.46,562,05312.7Western Cape3,956,8759.74,524,33510.15,822,73411.2Limpopo4,929,36812.15,273,64211.85,404,86810.4Mpumalanga2,800,7116.93,122,9907.04,039,9397.8North West3,354,8258.33,669,3498.23,509,9536.8Free State2,633,5046.52,706,7756.02,745,5905.3Northern Cape840,3212.1822,7271.81,145,8612.2South Africa40,583,573100.044,819,776100.051,770,561100.0

See also List of South African provinces by population density

References