The white population is shrinking in South Africa, posing a severe risk to the economy
Former South African Statistician-General Pali Lehohla warned that South Africa’s shrinking white population poses a severe risk to the economy.
Lehohla shared his views on South Africa’s white population in a discussion with Mbuyiseni Ndlozi on the African Renaissance Podcast.
The white population’s share of South Africa’s total population declined from 21.5% when the Union was formed in 1910 to 7.1% in 2026.
The 2026 mid-year population for South Africa is estimated at 63.52 million, with the black African population at 51.92 million.
The black African population constitutes approximately 82% of South Africa’s population, dwarfing the other groups.
The coloured population is estimated at 5.36 million, the white population at 4.50 million, and the Indian and Asian population at 1.72 million.
What was striking about the latest statistics is that the white population was the only one which declined.
In 1995, shortly after South Africa’s democratic elections, the country had a white population of 5.2 million. This has declined to 4.5 million in 2026.
Lehohla said that white South Africans’ share of the population is projected to drop to around 2% by 2050.
The cause of the decline includes emigration and lower birth rates among white people in the country.
The white fertility rate has fallen to 1.5 births per woman, which is below replacement level. By 2050, the white population is projected to shrink to around 2 million.
Lehohla explained that white South Africans currently hold a disproportionate share of high-level skills, technical expertise, and intellectual capital.
This means that the shrinking white population poses a severe risk to the South African economy.
At this stage, the government is not building comparable high-level educational outcomes and skills across the black majority.
As such, South Africa risks losing key economic engines and technical infrastructure capabilities, which are currently driven by the white population.
Lehohla said that the solution is to reform the education system to elevate black post-secondary achievement.
In tandem, the government should find ways to retain and use existing local technical expertise.
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The ANC and their enabler, the downtrodden multi-millionaire, Malema want every single white out of SA. They’ve created Nuremburg-style laws for that purpose. Now, they’re turning up the heat. The whites will be replaced by Chinese. The Chinese helped the ANC get into power so they’re on a winning ticket when it comes to BBEEE. The ANC will get their Liebensraum but they’ll have share it with the Chinese. As for Africa’s resources and wild life, well, visit a zoo. The Chinese love their abalone, elephant and rhino tusks, and more. Sad, but it’s Africa. Time to go to the West like dancing Johannes and funny guy Trevor.