MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                                27 August 2018

                                                                                    Recorded live births, 2017

The Recorded live births, 2017 report released by Statistics South Africa today shows that a total of 989 318 births were registered in South Africa in 2017. This indicates an increase of 2,1% from the 969 415 birth registrations in  2016. Of the 989 318 births registered in 2017, 897 750 were current registrations (births that occurred in 2017) whereas 91 568 were late registrations (births that occurred in 2016 and earlier). A majority of the current births registrations were for male children (460 774) while 452 725 were for females, resulting in a sex ratio of 102. No comparable or reliable information on fathers could be provided due to a high proportion of births registered (61,7%) without details of fathers.

The most populous provinces Gauteng (239 457) and KwaZulu-Natal (197 913) had the highest number of total birth registrations. The lowest number of birth registrations were observed in Northern Cape (24 395) and Free State (50 130) which is also in line with the population sizes of the provinces.

The number and percentage distribution of registered births by age of the mother and status of registration for births that occurred in 2017 shows that of the 897 750 births that occurred and were registered in 2017, age group 30−34 years (95,5%) accounted for the highest proportion of current birth registrations, followed by 25−29 years (95,1%) and 35−39 years (94,7%). Current birth registrations for births that occurred in 2017 were lowest for age groups 10-14 years (39,9%) as well as age group 50-54 years (45,6%)

The births and Deaths registration Amendment Act (Act No. 18 of 2010) regulates that registration of birth must be within 30 days after birth has occurred. Of the 897 750 births which occurred in 2017, 78% were compliant   with regulation. North West was the leading province in terms of births registered within 30 days at 92% and the lowest was KwaZulu-Natal at 66%.

The most popular first names recorded for males were Enzokuhle followed by Lethabo and Melokuhle. Amongst females, the first three most common first names were Enzokuhle, Melokuhle then Amahle. The most popular surname for both sexes was Dlamini (6243) followed by Nkosi (5735) and Ndlovu (5573).

The table below shows the distribution of the top ten baby first names, middle names and surnames in South Africa for the year 2017:

Recorded live births report is based on the birth registration records from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The report covers current birth registrations and occurrences of live births for 2017 recorded for a period of 14 months (from January 2017 up until February 2018).                                                                                                                                                                                 

Issued by Statistics South Africa

Technical enquiries:

Ms Gwen Lehloenya

Acting Deputy Director-General: Population & Social Statistics

Tel: (012) 310 9324

Email: GwenL@statssa.gov.za

Thabo Molebatsi

Acting Chief Director: Health and Vital Statistics

Tel: (012) 310 4857

Cell: 060 997 8372

Email:

thabomol@statssa.gov.za

Media enquiries:

Lesedi Dibakwane

Director: Media and Public Relations

Tel: 012 310 8578

Cell: 082 805 7088

Email: LesediD@statssa.gov.za