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Lifestyle

South Africa — Living: Major Cities

Stats SA puts the South African mid-year 2026 population at 63.52 million, against 62 million in Census 2022.

VerifiedGovernment / official sourceStatistics South Africa — populationLast reviewed: 2026-10-23

Key facts

  • The Stats SA mid-year population estimate for 2026 is 63.52 million.
  • Census 2022 counted 62 million people.
  • Metro-level counts for Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban are in the Census 2022 releases and were not found here.
  • Annual CPI inflation was 4.5% in September 2026.

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