Media Release

For Immediate Release

18 October 2023

Free State home to over 2,9 million people. 

Free State is one of the smaller provinces in South Africa, ranked eighth according to the latest Census 2022 results.

The total population of Free State as counted in Census 2022 increased by 8,0%, from 2,7m more than a decade ago in Census 2011 to almost 2,9 million in the latest population and housing census. This was the lowest population change among all provinces. Mangaung, the only metropolitan municipality in Free State, lost its position among the top ten most populous municipalities, declining from 8th position in 2011 to 12th position in 2022.

A census is a count of all people in the country on a predetermined date called the reference date, which was on 2nd February 2022.

A population and housing census is the foremost exercise in the ten-year cycle of the statistical programme of a country, presenting an opportunity to obtain data on key demographic indicators such as population size and composition, households and their living circumstances, and geographical distribution across the country.

Almost 90% of the population in the province is black African; 8,0% is white; 2,6% is coloured; and Indian/Asian comprises less than one percent of the population in the province.

The question on “place of usual residence and place of birth” provide valuable insights into lifetime migration.

Of those who migrated between 2011 and 2022, a high number of persons migrating from Free State indicated Gauteng (36 289) and Western Cape (12 823) as their destination.

The high level of out-migration was reported in Eastern Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. When looking at lifetime migration (movement over any period), people moving out of Free State tended to move to Gauteng (more than 330 thousand) and North West province (just over 75 thousand).

Xhariep (43,7%) and Lejweleputswa (41,9%) had larger proportions of children not attending any educare compared to the other districts; these proportions are above the provincial average of 34%.

Since the last census, the Free State showed a positive trajectory in a number of key indicators including education. In 2011, 7,1% of the Free State population aged 20+ had no formal schooling; that figure declined to 5,0% in this latest Census 2022. Almost 34% of individuals indicated that their highest level of education was some secondary, which may suggest higher dropout rates and limited progression to tertiary education.

The largest rise in attendance was observed in Free State, with the percentage of individuals aged 5–24 years attending educational institutions increasing by nearly four percentage points, from 73,1% in 2011 to 76,8% in 2022.

Some key statistics that need to be noted in the census report were dependency ratios. The dependency ratio is a good indicator of the burden that the working age population has to carry to support the young and the elderly. In the Free State, the ratio declined from 66 in 2011 to 60 persons per 100 in Census 2022.

The average household size is another key variable. The average household size in the Free State was 3,3 persons in Census 2011, which increased to 3,5 in Census 2022.

There were also increases in the number of formal dwellings (88,5%), flush toilets connected to sewerage (76,0%), weekly refuse disposal service (53, 3%), access to piped water in the dwelling (49, 0%), and electricity for lighting (94, 6%). However, Thabo Mofutsanyane, had the highest percentage of households using Pit toilet (with and without ventilation), at 25%, as opposed to 16% recorded provincially.

In terms of households involved in agricultural activities, the Free State had 16,1% of households participating in agricultural activities. About 80,3% of households produced only for own consumption, with 7,7% households producing mainly for sale with some own consumption. 5,8% of households produced food only for sale.

Census 2022 results also reflected on the District municipal changes between 2011 and 2018. In the 2018 boundary re-determination, Mangaung increased in area from 6 284 km2 in 2011 to 9 886 km2 in 2018 with the inclusion of parts of Xhariep and the Lejweleputswa District Municipalities. Lejweleputswa District Municipality area changed from 31 930 km2 to 32 287 km2 through the loss of part of its area to Mangaung and the gain of a part of the Thabo Mfutsanyane District Municipality.

Ends/

For technical enquiries contact:

Provincial Head: Boniswa Jonas: Email: BoniswaJ@statssa.gov.za

For media enquiries:

Sivuyile Mangxamba: Cell: 082 805 7088: Email: SivuyileMA@statssa.gov.za

Felicia Sithole: Cell: 0764300693: Email: Felicias@statssa.gov.za

Issued by Statistics South Africa