1996 South African census

The National Census of 1996 was the 1st comprehensive national census of the Republic of South Africa, after the end of Apartheid. It undertook to enumerate every person present in South Africa on the census night at a cost of R 419,000,000.^[1]

1996 National Census
← 1985 9 October 1996 (1996-10-09) 2001 →
General information
Country	Republic of South Africa
Results
Total population	40,583,573 ( 30.9%)
Most populous ​region	KwaZulu-Natal
Least populous ​region	Northern Cape

Pre-enumeration

Personal questionnaire

Institution questionnaire

Enumeration

Post-enumeration Survey

Results

Demographics

Population change in the South Africa by race^[2]

Rank	Race	1991 Census	1996 Census	Difference	Percent difference
1	Black African	21,646,000	31,127,631	9,481,631	43.8%
2	White	5,068,000	4,434,697	633,303	12.4%
3	Coloured	3,286,000	3,600,446	314,446	9.5%
4	Asian or Indian	987,000	1,045,596	58,596	5.9%
Total population		30,987,000	40,583,573	9,596,573	30.9%

Population group by province (percentages)^[3]

First language	Eastern Cape	Free State	Gauteng	KwaZulu-Natal	Mpumalanga	Northern Cape	Northern Province	North West	Western Cape	South Africa
Black African	86.4	84.4	70	81.7	89.2	33.2	96.7	91.2	20.9	76.7
Coloured	7.4	3	3.8	1.4	0.7	51.8	0.2	1.4	54.2	8.9
Asian or Indian	0.3	0.1	2.2	9.4	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.3	1	2.6
White	5.2	12	23.2	6.6	9	13.3	2.4	6.6	20.8	10.9
Unspecified/Other	0.6	0.4	0.8	0.8	0.6	1.5	0.7	0.5	3.1	0.9
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Population change in the South Africa by language^[4]

Rank	First language	1991 Census	1996 Census	Difference	Percent Difference
1	IsiZulu		9,200,144		%
2	IsiXhosa		7,196,118		%
3	Afrikaans		5,811,547		%
4	Sepedi		3,695,846		%
5	Setswana		3,301,774		%
6	English		3,457,467		%
7	Sesotho		3,104,197		%
8	Xitsonga		1,756,105		%
9	SiSwati		1,013,193		%
10	Tshivenda		876,409		%
11	IsiNdebele		586,961		%
12	Other		228,275		%

Population change in the South Africa by gender ^[5]

Rank	Gender	1991 Census	1996 Census	Difference	Percent difference
1	Female	15,507,000	21,062,685	5,755,685	37.1%
2	Male	15,480,000	19,520,887	4,040,887	26.1%

Population change in the South Africa by province ^[6]

Rank	Province	1991 Census	1996 Census	Difference	Percent difference
1	KwaZulu-Natal		8,417,021		%
2	Gauteng		7,348,423		%
3	Eastern Cape		6,302,525		%
4	Limpopo		4,929,368		%
5	Western Cape		3,956,875		%
6	North West		3,354,825		%
7	Mpumalanga		2,800,711		%
8	Free State		2,633,504		%
9	Northern Cape		840,321		%
Total population			40,583,573		%

Home language by province (percentages)^[3]

First language	Eastern Cape	Free State	Gauteng	KwaZulu-Natal	Mpumalanga	Northern Cape	Northern Province	North West	Western Cape	South Africa
Afrikaans	9.6	14.5	16.7	1.6	8.3	69.3	2.2	7.5	59.2	14.4
English	3.7	1.3	13.0	15.8	2.0	2.4	0.4	1.0	20.3	8.6
IsiNdebele	0	0.2	1.6	0	12.5	0	1.5	1.3	0.1	1.5
IsiXhosa	83.8	9.4	7.5	1.6	1.3	6.3	0.2	54.4	19.1	17.9
IsiZulu	0.4	4.8	21.5	79.8	25.4	0.3	0.7	2.5	0.1	22.9
Sepedi	0	0.2	9.5	0	10.5	0	52.7	4.0	0	9.2
Sesotho	2.2	62.1	13.1	0.5	3.2	0.9	1.1	5.1	0.4	7.7
SiSwati	0	0.1	1.3	0.1	30.0	0	1.2	0.5	0	2.5
Setswana	0	6.5	7.9	0	2.7	19.9	1.4	67.2	0.1	8.2
Tshivenda	0	0.1	1.4	0	0.1	0	15.5	0.4	0	2.2
Xitsonga	0	0.5	5.3	0	3.5	0	22.6	4.7	0	4.4
Other	0.2	0.3	1.3	0.5	0.4	0.8	0.3	0.5	0.6	0.6
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Employment

Economically active population by province amongst those aged 15 – 65 years^[3]

First language	Eastern Cape	Free State	Gauteng	KwaZulu-Natal	Mpumalanga	Northern Cape	Northern Province	North West	Western Cape	South Africa
Employed	786 818	701 175	2 564 243	1 570 573	605 925	215 523	570 129	725 287	1 374 174	9 113 847
Unemployed	742 427	299 948	1 007 766	1 008 944	297 290	86 060	486 554	443 546	299 114	4 671 647
Total	1 529 244	1 001 122	3 572 009	2 579 517	903 215	301 583	1 056 683	1 168 833	1 673 288	13 785 493
Unemployed as percentage of total	48%	29%	28%	39%	32%	28%	46%	37%	17%	33%

Labour market status of the population aged 15 - 65 years by population group – October 1996^[3]

See also

• South Africa portal
• Mathematics portal

• South African National Census of 2001
• Demographics of South Africa

References

1. Using the 2001 Census: Approaches to analysing data (PDF). Statistics South Africa and the Human Sciences Research Council. 2007. ISBN 978-0-621-37259-5. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
2. Primary tables South Africa: Census '96 and 2001 compared (PDF). Statistics South Africa. 2004. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-621-34320-X. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
3. "The People of South Africa Population Census 1996 - Census in Brief" (PDF). Stats SA. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
4. Primary tables South Africa: Census '96 and 2001 compared (PDF). Statistics South Africa. 2004. pp. 9–12. ISBN 0-621-34320-X. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
5. Primary tables South Africa: Census '96 and 2001 compared (PDF). Statistics South Africa. 2004. pp. 20–23. ISBN 0-621-34320-X. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
6. Primary tables South Africa: Census '96 and 2001 compared (PDF). Statistics South Africa. 2004. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-621-34320-X. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

External links

• Official 1996 Census Website