Key takeaways:
- South Africa’s race profile shows that the White population (which was previously the second biggest cohort after the Black population) has been overtaken by the Coloured population.
- There were 382 people per police officer and 116 people per private security officer in 2018/19. The murder rate was 36 per 100 000 people.
- Diseases/conditions which are the leading causes of death are: tuberculosis for the Black population; diabetes among Coloured and Indian/Asian people, and ischaemic heart disease for the White population.
- There are 16.3 million employed people; 6.7 million unemployed people (according to the official/strict definition); and 10.2 million unemployed people (according to the expanded definition — which includes people who have given up looking for work).
- South Africa’s economy relies heavily on the tertiary sector, which contributes 68% to gross value added (GVA), compared to 21.1% for the secondary sector and 10.9% for the primary sector.
- Salaries are the main source of income for more than two thirds (64.8%) of households and, for some 45.2% of households, grants are the main source of income.