Limpopo Community Survey 2016 results

Limpopo’s population by 400 000, from 5,4 million people in 2011 to 5,8 million in 2016, making it the fifth largest province in the country in terms of population size. It trails behind Gauteng (13,4 million), KwaZulu-Natal (11,1 million), Eastern Cape (7 million), and Western Cape (6,3 million).  The number of households in the province has also increased to 1,6 million in 2016, from 1,4 million in 2011. The district municipality with the largest share of households in the province is Vhembe (382 346), followed by Capricorn (378 272), Mopani (338 385), Greater Sekhukhune (290 489), and Waterberg (211 452).

Migration

Of the 5,8 million people currently residing in Limpopo, a majority 5,4 million (93,1%) were born in in the province. About 400 000 of Limpopo residents were born elsewhere in the country and outside South Africa. Of those born outside the province, a large number was born outside South Africa (133 811), followed by those who were born in Gauteng (105 994), Mpumalanga (78 596), and North West (27 508). Between 2011 and 2016, Limpopo experienced a net-migration of -1,2 million, which was a result of 1,6 million people emigrating from the province and 389 151 moving to the province from elsewhere.

Housing

Limpopo has the highest proportion of households living in formal dwellings (88,9% or 1,4 million) and the lowest number of informal dwellings (4,8% or 77 371) in the country. About 5,1% (81 747) of households in the province are living in traditional dwellings. Limpopo also has the highest proportion of “owned and fully paid-off” homes in the country with 65,4%. About 7,5% of households in the province own their main dwellings, however they are still paying back their home loans. More than a tenth (11,4%) of the of the households stay rent-free in homes they do not own, whereas 9,8% rent their main homes.

Access to basic services

The proportion of Limpopo households with access to piped water has decreased to 80% (1 million) in 2016, from 83,6% (1,2 million) in 2011. However, the proportion of households with access to electricity has increased from 39,2% in 1996 to 93% in 2016. In 2011, 87,3% of Limpopo households had access to electricity. The number of households with access to a flush/chemical toilet increased from 322 112 in 2011 to 402 442 in 2016.

Poverty headcount and hunger

The poverty headcount in Limpopo has increased from 10,1% in 2011 to 11,5% in 2016. Increases in the poverty headcount were observed in all district municipalities between 2011 and 2016, except in Vhembe – decreasing from 13% in 2011 to 12,8% in 2016. The lowest poverty headcounts, albeit having increased in comparison with 2011, were recorded in Capricorn (8,5%) and Waterberg (9%).

288 963 of households in Limpopo reported that they had ran out of money in the 12 months before the survey was conducted. A little more than a tenth (12,9% or 205 432) of households in Limpopo missed a meal over the same period.

Ends.

Note to the editors:

The Community Survey is a large-scale household sample survey conducted to bridge the information gap between two censuses. It is one of the few available data sources that provide statistics at municipal level, and it is aimed at enhancing planning, monitoring and evaluation at this level of government. The survey provides data on, among others, population, health, migration, education and access to basic services. The 2016 survey was conducted between March and April 2016 and collected data from 1,3 million households across all South African communities.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

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