Nationally, in 2022, 13,8% (2 463 429) of all households were agricultural households compared with 19,9% (2 879 590) in 2011. The main provinces that contributed to the decrease were KwaZulu-Natal (-167 726 agricultural households), Eastern Cape (- 114 846 agricultural households) and Free State (-65 522 agricultural households). 

The highest proportion of households that were engaged in agriculture in 2022 was 28,7% in Limpopo, down from 33,0% in 2011. This was followed by 26,2% in Eastern Cape (35,4% in 2011) and 19,2% in KwaZulu-Natal (28,2% in 2011). Western Cape and Gauteng recorded the lowest participation rates in 2022, with 2,4% (5,2% in 2011) and 5,0% (7,1% in 2011) respectively

In 2022, most agricultural households were in KwaZulu-Natal (22,3%, down from 24,9% in 2011), followed by Limpopo (21,1%, up from 16,3% in 2011) and Eastern Cape (19,6%, down from 20,7% in 2011). The least agricultural households were in Northern Cape (1,4%, down from 1,9% in 2011), followed by Western Cape (2,2%, down from 2,9% in 2011) and Free State (5,5%, down from 7,0% in 2011).