Demographic and Socio-economic Trends

for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Author: Karen Small

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department
Strategic Information Branch

December 2008

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Table of Contents
1

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3

Demographic Profile ........................................................................................................................3

Age Distribution ...............................................................................................................................3

Migration .........................................................................................................................................4

Adult Level of Education ..................................................................................................................5

Unemployment ................................................................................................................................5

Households .....................................................................................................................................5

Dwelling Type ..................................................................................................................................6

Access to Services ..........................................................................................................................6

10

Household Goods............................................................................................................................6

11

Further Information ..........................................................................................................................7

Citation: City of Cape Town (2008), Strategic Development Information and GIS Department,
Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007, Karen Small, 7 pages.
1996 Census, 2001 Census and 2007 Community Survey data supplied by Statistics South Africa.

December 2008

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Page 2

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Introduction
The 2007 Community Survey was a large-scale national household survey conducted by Statistics
South Africa in February 2007. The Community Survey was designed to fill the gap in information
between the 2001 Census and the next Census in 2011. This report highlights some of some of
the key findings for Cape Town using the 2007 Community Survey as well as the 1996 and 2001
Census information.

Demographic Profile
The population of Cape Town has grown by 20.9% since 2001 and 36.4% since 1996.
The number of Black Africans has shown the largest increase (89.4%) since 1996 followed by
64.6% for Asians. The number of Whites has increased by 24.3% and Coloureds by 24.1%.

Race
Black African
Coloured
Asian
White
Unspecified
Total

1996
Total
%
644,181
25.1%
1,239,943
48.4%
37,882
1.5%
543,425
21.2%
97,664
3.8%
2,563,095 100.0%

2001
Total
%
916,584
31.7%
1,392,594
48.1%
41,516
1.4%
542,555
18.8%
0
0.0%
2,893,249 100.0%

2007
Total
%
1,219,981
34.9%
1,538,315
44.0%
62,354
1.8%
676,447
19.3%
0
0.0%
3,497,097 100.0%

Age Distribution
The percentage of the population in the potentially economically active group (aged 15 to 64 years)
has increased since 1996 while that of the youth (aged 0 to 14 years) has decreased. The
percentage of aged (65 years and older) remained constant from 1996 to 2001 and then increased
in 2007.

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

1996

2001

2007

1996

Male

2001

2007

1996

Female

2001

2007

Total

0-14

29.2%

27.8%

26.5%

27.2%

25.6%

25.1%

28.2%

26.7%

25.8%

15-64

65.5%

68.2%

68.6%

66.0%

68.6%

68.8%

65.7%

68.4%

68.7%

65+

4.1%

4.1%

4.8%

5.9%

5.8%

6.2%

5.0%

5.0%

5.5%

December 2008

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Page 3

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Migration
A total of 190,256 people moved into Cape Town after October 2001 from all provinces other than
the Western Cape as well as from outside of South Africa. This includes 30,964 who were born
after October 2001 and whose place of birth was not the Western Cape. From the data available it
is not possible to determine the number of people who moved into Cape Town from other areas of
the Western Cape. The largest percentage came from the Eastern Cape (44.9%), followed by
those who came from outside of South Africa (19.5%) and from Gauteng (17.3%).

50%

44.9%

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%

19.5%

17.3%

15%
10%

6.2%

5%

2.0%

1.7%

1.3%

2.8%

3.5%
0.8%

0%
Eastern
Cape

Free State

Gauteng

Kw aZuluNatal

Limpopo Mpumalanga Northern North West

Cape

Outside
RSA

Unknow n

The number of people moving into Cape Town from other provinces in South Africa declined from
the period October 1996/September 2001 to October 2001/February 2007. During both periods
the largest number came from the Eastern Cape followed by Gauteng. The number of people in
the period October 2001/February 2007 excludes those born after October 2001.
Oct 1996 to Sep 2001

Oct 2001 to Feb 2007

120,000

Number of People

100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Eastern
Cape

December 2008

Free State

Gauteng

Kw aZuluNatal

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Northern
Cape

North West

Page 4

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Adult Level of Education

The percentage of those 20 years and older with no education has decreased from 4.2% in 1996 to
2.0% in 2007 and the percentage with a degree has increased from 4.6% to 8.8% in the same
period.

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

No
schooling

Grade 0 - 3 Grade 4 - 7

Grade 8 11

Grade 12

Certificate/
Diploma

Degree

Unspecified

1996

4.2%

1.8%

17.9%

37.5%

19.6%

9.0%

4.6%

5.3%

2001

4.2%

2.4%

16.5%

38.1%

25.4%

7.9%

5.5%

0.0%

2007

2.0%

2.9%

14.3%

40.1%

20.9%

9.6%

8.8%

1.4%

Unemployment
Unemployment in Cape Town was highest in 2001 having increased by almost 10% since 1996.
Unemployment was at 24.5% in 2007.
60%
40%
20%
0%

Black African

Coloured

Asian

White

Total

1996

37.9%

17.7%

10.7%

4.1%

19.6%

2001

49.7%

24.5%

12.0%

4.7%

29.2%

2007

39.7%

21.8%

9.6%

4.4%

24.5%

Households
In 2007 the number of households in Cape Town was 902,279. This is an increase of 18.8% since
2001 when there were 759,485 households and 38.2% since 1996 when there were 653,085
households. The average household size has shown little change being 3.9 in 1996, 3.7 in 2001
and 3.9 in 2007.

December 2008

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Page 5

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

Dwelling Type
The percentage of households living in formal dwellings has increased from 77.4% in 1996 to
83.0% in 2007 while those living in informal dwellings fell from 19.2% to 15.6% over the same
period.
Formal

Informal

Other

100%
90%
80%

83.0%

78.9%

77.4%

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%

19.2%

10%

18.8%
3.3%

15.6%
2.2%

1.4%

0%
1996

2001

2007

Note: Informal include shacks not in back yards as well as those in back yards.
Other includes traditional dwellings, caravans, tents, private ships and workers hostels.

Access to Services
By 2007 over 93% of all households had access to electricity for lighting, had access to piped
water, had access to adequate toilet facilities and had weekly refuse removal. In 2007 2.9% of
households were still using bucket toilets and 3.5% of households had no access to toilet facilities.
Service
Access to electricity for lighting
Access to piped water
Access to flush or chemical toilet
Households using bucket toilets
Households having no toilet facility
Weekly removal of refuse

1996
86.8%
98.2%
89.3%
3.1%
4.9%
88.6%

2001
88.8%
98.7%
87.5%
4.4%
7.2%
94.2%

2007
94.4%
99.5%
93.0%
2.9%
3.5%
94.2%

10 Household Goods
With the exception of landline telephones the percentage of households with access to household
goods increased between 2001 and 2007.

December 2008

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Page 6

Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Cell-phone

Landline
Telephone

Refrigerator

Radio

Television

Computer

2001

45.2%

55.0%

76.0%

80.4%

76.5%

21.0%

2007

77.1%

47.0%

83.9%

84.0%

85.9%

34.3%

Internet
Facility

18.9%

11 Further Information
For a more detailed analysis see the full report 2007 Community Survey Analysis for Cape
Town.

December 2008

Strategic Development Information and GIS Department

Page 7