According to the national statistics agency (Stats SA), which released the results of the 2022 National Census, there are 62,027,503 people in the country, up from 51,770,560 in 2011. Thus, the population growth was about 18 per cent.

The 2022 census also revealed that South Africa is home to about 2.4 million international migrants, mostly from other southern countries (almost half from Zimbabwe), representing about 3% of the total population.

According to the report, black South Africans remain the dominant population group, accounting for 81.4 per cent of the total population, about 50.4 million people.

Mixed race and other ethnic minorities made up 8.2 per cent (about five million people), followed by the Caucasoid race at 7.3 per cent, or 4.5 million people.

In terms of gender composition, women constitute 51.5 per cent of the population and men 48.5 per cent.

The 2022 census also revealed that Zulu remains the most spoken language in South Africa with 24.4 per cent of the total population, followed by Xhosa with 16.3 per cent, Afrikaans with 10.6 per cent and Northern Sotho with 10 per cent.

English as a mother tongue is spoken by about 8.7 per cent of the population, as reported by Prensa Latina, a partner of TV BRICS.

In terms of religious beliefs, the majority of the population declared themselves to be Christian (85.3 per cent), followed by African traditional religions (7.8 per cent), and about 1.6 per cent of the population practised Islam.

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