List of South African provinces by population
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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,{{cite book |title=Census 2011: Census in brief |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |publisher=Statistics South Africa |location=Pretoria |year=2012 |isbn=9780621413885 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513171240/http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=live |page=18}} the 2016 Community Survey,{{cite book |title=Community Survey 2016 in Brief |url=http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CS-in-brief-14-07-2017-with-cover_1.pdf |publisher=Statistics South Africa |location=Pretoria |year=2016 |isbn=9780621449785}} and the most recent 2022 Census.{{Cite web |title=Statistics South Africa {{!}} Census Dissemination |url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=census.statssa.gov.za}}
List
| class="wikitable" |
| rowspan=2|Rank
!rowspan=2|Province !colspan=2|Census 2011 !colspan=2|2016 community survey !colspan=2|Census 2022 |
|---|
| Population
!Percentage !Population !Percentage !Population !Percentage |
| 1
|style="text-align:right"|12,272,263 |style="text-align:right"|23.7 |style="text-align:right"|13,399,724 |style="text-align:right"|24.1 |style="text-align:right"|15,099,422 |style="text-align:right"|24.3 |
| 2
|style="text-align:right"|10,267,300 |style="text-align:right"|19.8 |style="text-align:right"|11,065,240 |style="text-align:right"|19.9 |style="text-align:right"|12,423,907 |style="text-align:right"|20.0 |
| 3
| style="text-align:right" |5,822,734 | style="text-align:right" |11.2 | style="text-align:right" |6,279,730 | style="text-align:right" |11.3 | style="text-align:right" |7,433,019 | style="text-align:right" |12.0 |
| 4
| style="text-align:right" |6,562,053 | style="text-align:right" |12.7 | style="text-align:right" |6,996,976 | style="text-align:right" |12.6 | style="text-align:right" |7,230,204 | style="text-align:right" |11.6 |
| 5
|style="text-align:right"|5,404,868 |style="text-align:right"|10.4 |style="text-align:right"|5,799,090 |style="text-align:right"|10.4 |style="text-align:right"|6,572,720 |style="text-align:right"|10.6 |
| 6
|style="text-align:right"|4,039,939 |style="text-align:right"|7.8 |style="text-align:right"|4,335,964 |style="text-align:right"|7.8 |style="text-align:right"|5,143,324 |style="text-align:right"|8.3 |
| 7
|style="text-align:right"|3,509,953 |style="text-align:right"|6.8 |style="text-align:right"|3,748,435 |style="text-align:right"|6.7 |style="text-align:right"|3,804,548 |style="text-align:right"|6.1 |
| 8
|style="text-align:right"|2,745,590 |style="text-align:right"|5.3 |style="text-align:right"|2,834,714 |style="text-align:right"|5.1 |style="text-align:right"|2,964,412 |style="text-align:right"|4.8 |
| 9
|style="text-align:right"|1,145,861 |style="text-align:right"|2.2 |style="text-align:right"|1,193,780 |style="text-align:right"|2.1 |style="text-align:right"|1,355,946 |style="text-align:right"|2.2 |
| colspan=2|South Africa
|style="text-align:right"|51,770,561 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |style="text-align:right"|55,653,654 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |style="text-align:right"|62,027,503 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |
Historical data
Since the creation of the current provinces in 1994 there have been three censuses, in 1996, 2001 and 2011.
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Province
!class="unsortable"|Percentage !class="unsortable"|Percentage !Census 2011 !Percentage |
|---|
| Gauteng
|style="text-align:right"|7,348,423 |style="text-align:right"|18.1 |style="text-align:right"|8,837,178 |style="text-align:right"|19.7 |style="text-align:right"|12,272,263 |style="text-align:right"|23.7 |
| KwaZulu-Natal
|style="text-align:right"|8,417,021 |style="text-align:right"|20.7 |style="text-align:right"|9,426,017 |style="text-align:right"|21.0 |style="text-align:right"|10,267,300 |style="text-align:right"|19.8 |
| Eastern Cape
|style="text-align:right"|6,302,525 |style="text-align:right"|15.5 |style="text-align:right"|6,436,763 |style="text-align:right"|14.4 |style="text-align:right"|6,562,053 |style="text-align:right"|12.7 |
| Western Cape
|style="text-align:right"|3,956,875 |style="text-align:right"|9.7 |style="text-align:right"|4,524,335 |style="text-align:right"|10.1 |style="text-align:right"|5,822,734 |style="text-align:right"|11.2 |
| Limpopo
|style="text-align:right"|4,929,368 |style="text-align:right"|12.1 |style="text-align:right"|5,273,642 |style="text-align:right"|11.8 |style="text-align:right"|5,404,868 |style="text-align:right"|10.4 |
| Mpumalanga
|style="text-align:right"|2,800,711 |style="text-align:right"|6.9 |style="text-align:right"|3,122,990 |style="text-align:right"|7.0 |style="text-align:right"|4,039,939 |style="text-align:right"|7.8 |
| North West
|style="text-align:right"|3,354,825 |style="text-align:right"|8.3 |style="text-align:right"|3,669,349 |style="text-align:right"|8.2 |style="text-align:right"|3,509,953 |style="text-align:right"|6.8 |
| Free State
|style="text-align:right"|2,633,504 |style="text-align:right"|6.5 |style="text-align:right"|2,706,775 |style="text-align:right"|6.0 |style="text-align:right"|2,745,590 |style="text-align:right"|5.3 |
| Northern Cape
|style="text-align:right"|840,321 |style="text-align:right"|2.1 |style="text-align:right"|822,727 |style="text-align:right"|1.8 |style="text-align:right"|1,145,861 |style="text-align:right"|2.2 |
| class="sortbottom"
|South Africa |style="text-align:right"|40,583,573 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |style="text-align:right"|44,819,776 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |style="text-align:right"|51,770,561 |style="text-align:right"|100.0 |