The World Bank last year deemed South Africa the world’s most unequal society, estimating that the top 10% owned 70% of the nation’s assets in 2015.

According to the data, there are 62 027 503 people in South Africa compared to the 2011 census, which recorded 51 770 560 people. This translated to a population growth rate of 1.8%.

The 2024 sample reflects a population aged 15+ of 43.6 million South Africans, with a balanced distribution across metro (50%), urban (30%), and rural (20%) areas.

2017 – 56.5 million Life expectancy at birth for 2017 is estimated at 61.2 years for males and 66.7 years for females. Gauteng comprises the largest share of the South African population.

South Africa’s population is estimated to have increased to 63.02-million this year, with the female population accounting for 51%, or about 32,13-million, of the population, according to the ...

The poorest 50% of the population, who still earn about 10% of all income, own no measurable wealth at all. The fact that the bottom half has very little wealth is not unique to South Africa.

The Market Research Foundation’s MAPS data comes from annual surveys of a sample of the South African population. It interviews women and men aged 15 and older from all races and provinces.

Inequality has remained stubbornly high. South Africa started the 1990s with already elevated inequality as the policy of apartheid excluded a large swath of the population from economic opportunities ...