Eastern Cape is the fourth most populated province in South Africa, according to the latest Census 2022 results.

The total population of Eastern Cape as counted in Census 2022 increased by 10, 2% from 6,5 million more than a decade ago in Census 2011 to 7,2 million in the latest population and housing census.

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.

Over 85% of the population in the province is black African, 7.6% is coloured, 5.6% is white and Indian/Asian comprises less than half a percentage of the population in the province.

In population rankings per province, the Eastern Cape moved one place down to fourth in this census compared to Census 2011.

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

A high number of persons migrating from Eastern Cape indicated Western Cape (1 134 674) and Gauteng (495 494) as their destination.

The high number of out-migration was reported in Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.

Census 2022 results also reflected on the District municipal changes between 2011 and 2018. At the 2018 re-determination there were small-scale boundary adjustments in the following districts: Amathole, Buffalo City, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi and O.R. Tambo. Meanwhile, the name Cacadu District Municipality was changed to Sarah Baartman District Municipality in 2018.

The largest concentration of population in the province was in the O.R Tambo district, with 1 501 702 people followed by Nelson Mandela bay with 1 190 496 people.

Since the last census, the Eastern Cape showed a positive trajectory in a number of key indicators including education where total number of population aged 20+ with no schooling declined.

In 2011, the Eastern Cape had 10, 5% youth aged 20+ who had no formal schooling and that figure declined to 7, 2% in this latest Census 2022.

There were also increases in the number of formal dwellings (83, 6%), flush toilets connected to sewerage (58, 7%), weekly refuse disposal service (53, 3%), access to piped water in a dwelling (49, 5%), and electricity for lighting (94, 5%).

On the education front, the Census 2022 report show that 77, 3% of population between the age of 5-24 years attended an education institution in the reference period.

However, the results also show that the lowest percentage of individuals who completed secondary education were found in Eastern Cape (27, 2%).

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

The dependency ratio relates the number of children (0-14. years old) and older persons (65 years or over) to the working-age population (15-64 years old).

The population and housing data also gives information on the average household size over time.

The average household size was another key variable. The average household size in the Eastern Cape was 3, 9 persons and the figure had remained unchanged between Census 2011 and Census 2022.

The population and housing census also measures a key demographic phenomenon – parental survival and reflect orphanhood in the census results.

Provincial variations in orphanhood showed that Eastern Cape (15, 8%) and KwaZulu-Natal (15, 5%) had the highest percentage of paternal orphans in both Censuses 2011 and 2022.

In terms of households involved in agricultural activities, the Eastern Cape had 26, 2% of households participating in agricultural activities. About 78, 3% of households produced only for own consumption, with 7, 8% households produced mainly for sale with some own consumption. There were 3, 5% of households that produced food only for sale.

With the exception of chickens, Eastern Cape reported the highest numbers in all types of livestock – more than half of the sheep (58, 0%) kept at household level were in Eastern Cape.

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Issued by Statistics South Africa