Figure 2: Growth in the number of individuals and households in South Africa, 2001-2019

The starting point for any discussion on inequality is defining the population for whom inequality is being measured. An inequality assessment presupposes a distribution of resources relative to a given population within which the ranking of resources relative to individuals can be done. According to the 2019 General Household Survey (GHS), the most recent version of the survey for which data is available, there are 58.4 million people and 17.2 million households in South Africa. The number of households in South Africa grew at 2.4% per annum while the number of individuals grew at 1.5% per annum between 2001 and 2019. This discrepancy is driven to a large degree by the continued growth in one-person households, a phenomenon commonly associated with urbanisation, and in South Africa, with migration and employment patterns. The growth in households has clear implications for service delivery; an increase in the number of households implies a need for more dwellings, albeit smaller, and more infrastructure to service these dwellings appropriately.

Figure 2: Growth in the number of individuals and households in South Africa, 2001-2019 Sources: Census 2001, Community Survey 2007, Census 2011, Community Survey 2016, GHS 2019

Growth in population and households is also not evenly distributed across the country, with noticeably higher population growth in better-developed areas, as individuals migrate to access jobs, better-quality housing, education and healthcare. The latest mid-year population estimates published by Stats SA in July 2021 indicate that Gauteng has seen net in-migration of almost one million people between 2016 and 2021, with the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal experiencing net out-migration of 320,000, 189,000 and 84,000 people respectively.

44,819,777 48,502,057 51,770,560 58,428,890.48 55,653,654

16,923,309 17,200,000

11,205,705 12,500,609 14,450,161