SA is facing an economic dilemma as two of its most dependent population groups — small children and the elderly — are growing, while the number of working people is declining. Releasing the midyear population estimates‚ Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said the country’s population now stood at an estimated 56.52-million‚ which was 902‚200 more people than in 2016. Population rates for children aged 0-14 had risen steadily since 2002-03‚ largely due to the introduction of prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral treatments for mothers and children infected by HIV or suffering from AIDS. However‚ fertility rates had declined‚ with the average number of children born to South African mothers now 2.4 compared to 2.7 10 years ago. South Africans were also living longer‚ with the average life expectancy now 64 — two years more than 2012 estimates. Lehohla said at this rate‚ the country was likely to reach the 70-year-old life expectancy target set out in the Nation...
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