SA’s birthrate is declining
Statistician General says that SA is heading towards a replacement birthrate, which will have an impact on the country’s economy in due course
SA’s birthrate is declining, with the number of registered births in 2015 falling 6.8% to 1.08-million from the previous year’s 1.16-million, Statistics SA reported on Thursday. Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said the average number of children born to each woman in SA was currently at 2.4 but is expected to drop to 2.1 in the coming years. Lehohla said that SA was heading towards a replacement birthrate, which would have an impact on the country’s economy in the future. He said that, because the number of people born was starting to shrink, coupled with the large number of people who are not working and the lack of investment in education, SA was not benefiting economically from its young population. He said that the reason the South African birthrate was declining was due to some degree to the use of contraceptives. Lehohla said the percentage of births getting registered within 30 days was improving due to drives by the Department of Home Affairs and also the child support gra...
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