The population of South Africa is about 57.7 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions.[1] The 2011 South African census was the last held and the next will be in 2021.[2]
In 2011, Statistics South Africa counted 2.1 million foreigners in total.[3] However, reports[specify] suggest that is an underestimation. The real figure may be as high as five million,[4] including some three million Zimbabweans.[5]
According to the 2010 revision of the United Nations Secretariat's World Population Prospects, South Africa's total population was 50,133,000 in 2010, compared to only 13,683,000 in 1950. In 2010, 30.1% of the people were children under the age of 15, 65.2% were between 15 and 64 years of age, and 4.6% were 65 or older.[14]All population estimates are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Registration of vital events in South Africa has improved considerably during the past decade, but still not considered to be complete for black South Africans. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[14] (Natural increase or decrease over a time period is the difference between that period's live births and deaths, before accounting for inward or outward migration.)
United Nations estimates, 2010
Period
Live births per year
Deaths per year
Natural Increase per year
Crude Birth Rate (per 1,000 per year)
Crude Death Rate (per 1,000 per year)
Natural Increase (per 1,000 per year)
Total Fertility Rate (over av'ge woman's life)
Infant Mortality Rate (per 100,000 live births)
1950–1955
629 000
295 000
+ 334 000
43.3
20.3
+ 23.0
6.50
96
1955–1960
697 000
297 000
+ 400 000
42.5
18.1
+ 24.4
6.50
91
1960–1965
774 000
310 000
+ 464 000
41.6
16.7
+ 25.0
6.30
87
1965–1970
808 000
312 000
+ 496 000
38.2
14.7
+ 23.5
5.70
84
1970–1975
909 000
317 000
+ 592 000
37.7
13.1
+ 24.6
5.47
77
1975–1980
980 000
319 000
+ 661 000
35.8
11.7
+ 24.1
5.00
71
1980–1985
1 052 000
307 000
+ 745 000
33.9
9.9
+ 24.0
4.56
61
1985–1990
1 086 000
299 000
+ 787 000
31.1
8.6
+ 22.5
4.00
53
1990–1995
1 073 000
332 000
+ 742 000
27.5
8.5
+ 19.0
3.34
51
1995–2000
1 082 000
450 000
+ 632 000
25.1
10.4
+ 14.7
2.95
56
2000–2005
1 111 000
645 000
+ 466 000
24.0
13.9
+ 10.1
2.80
59
2005–2010
1 074 000
746 000
+ 328 000
21.9
15.2
+ 6.7
2.55
55
2010–2015
21.0
12.5
+ 8.5
2.40
55
Total Fertility Rate = average number of children over a woman's lifetime; Infant Mortality Rate per 100,000 live births
The white percentage of the population has sharply declined. The first census in South Africa in 1911 showed that whites made up 22% of the population. This declined to 16% in 1980,[22] and 8.9% in 2011.[23]:21
In this regard it is third only to Bolivia and India in number. While all the languages are formally equal, some languages are spoken more than others. According to the 2011 census, the three most spoken first languages are Zulu (22.7%), Xhosa (16.0%), and Afrikaans (13.5%).[23]:23–25 Despite the fact that English is recognised as the language of commerce and science, it ranked fourth, and was spoken by only 9.6% of South Africans as a first language in 2011.[23]:23–25
The country also recognises several unofficial languages, including Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language.[25] These unofficial languages may be used in certain official uses in limited areas where it has been determined that these languages are prevalent. Nevertheless, their populations are not such that they require nationwide recognition.
Many of the "unofficial languages" of the San and Khoikhoi people contain regional dialects stretching northwards into Namibia and Botswana, and elsewhere. These people, who are a physically distinct population from other Africans, have their own cultural identity based on their hunter-gatherer societies. They have been marginalised to a great extent, and many of their languages are in danger of becoming extinct.
Many white South Africans also speak other European languages, such as Portuguese (also spoken by black Angolans and Mozambicans), German, and Greek, while some Indians and other Asians in South Africa speak South Asian languages, such as Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Telugu. Although many South Africans are of Huguenot (French) origin, South African French is spoken by fewer than 10,000 individuals country-wide. Congolese French is also spoken in South Africa by migrants.
The primary sign language of deaf South Africans is South African Sign Language. Other sign languages among indigenous peoples are also used.
Among whites, Afrikaans was the first language for 59.1% of the population, compared to 35.0% for English. Other languages accounted for the remaining 5.9%.[26]
African Indigenous Churches made up the largest of the Christian groups. Some believe that many people claiming no affiliation with any organised religion adhered to traditional indigenous religions. Many people have syncretic religious practices combining Christian and indigenous influences.[27]
Muslims are largely found among the Coloured and Indian ethnic groups. They have been joined by black or white South African converts as well as immigrants from other parts of Africa.[28] South African Muslims claim that their faith is the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12 000 in 1991 to 74 700 in 2004[28][29]
The Hindu population has its roots in the British colonial period, but later waves of immigration from India have also contributed to it. Most Hindus are of South Asian origin, but there are many who come from mixed racial stock. Some are converts due to the efforts of ISKCON.
87.9% of Black residents are Christian, 9.5% have no religion, 0.2% are Muslim, 0.0% are Jewish, 0.0% are Hindu and 2.3% have other or undetermined beliefs.
71.8% of White residents are Christian, 23.8% have no religion, 0.2% are Muslim, 1.4% are Jewish, and 0.0% are Hindu. 2.7% have other or undetermined beliefs.
South Africa hosts a sizeable refugee and asylum seeker population. According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, this population numbered approximately 144,700 in 2007.[33] Groups of refugees and asylum seekers numbering over 10,000 included people from Zimbabwe (48,400), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (24,800), and Somalia (12,900).[33] These populations mainly lived in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth.[33] Many refugees have now also started to work and live in rural areas in provinces such as Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Statistics SA assumes in some of their calculations that there are fewer than 2 million immigrants in South Africa.[34] Other institutions, like the police and Médecins Sans Frontières place estimate the figure at 4 million.[35][36][37][38][39]
Immigration assumptions by Statistics South Africa to South Africa based on race. Negative numbers represent net migration from South Africa to other countries.[40]
^Lehohla, Pali (5 May 2005). "Debate over race and censuses not peculiar to SA". Business Report. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2013. Others pointed out that the repeal of the Population Registration Act in 1991 removed any legal basis for specifying 'race'. The Identification Act of 1997 makes no mention of race. On the other hand, the Employment Equity Act speaks of 'designated groups' being 'black people, women and people with disabilities'. The Act defines 'black' as referring to 'Africans, coloureds and Indians'. Apartheid and the racial identification which underpinned it explicitly linked race with differential access to resources and power. If the post-apartheid order was committed to remedying this, race would have to be included in surveys and censuses, so that progress in eradicating the consequences of apartheid could be measured and monitored. This was the reasoning that led to a 'self-identifying' question about 'race' or 'population group' in both the 1996 and 2001 population censuses, and in Statistics SA's household survey programme.
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Languages of South Africa
At least thirty-five languages indigenous to South Africa are spoken in the Republic, ten of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, SiSwati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans. The eleventh official language is South African English, which is the primary factor language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status, and unofficial languages are protected under the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name. South African Sign Language has legal recognition but is not an official language, despite a campaign and parliamentary recommendation for it to be declared one.
51.3
59.2
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the 
