Archive contents, coverage and data integrity notes

What this archive contains

Editions held

across a 24-year span

Source tables

1,707

every table, every edition

Time series

10,910

five years or longer

Subjects

15 with chartable series

Statistics South Africa publishes the General Household Survey as a separate statistical release each year, and renumbers its tables between editions. This archive holds those published tables under one set of topic names, so a figure can be followed from 2002 to 2025 without opening nineteen PDFs.

Coverage

All 24 annual editions published between 2002 and 2025, with no gaps. Figures are transcribed as published: no interpolation, no values carried forward, no gap filled by assumption.

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Available data

Every subject held in the archive, and within each, the topics that can be followed as a continuous series. The year range shown is the span actually published for that topic — where it stops short of 2025, Stats SA discontinued or restructured the underlying table.

Agriculture

4 indicators · 77 source tables

2009–2025Number of households involved in one or more agricultural production activity, by province
2009–2018Number of households involved in one or more agricultural production activity, by population group and sex of the household head
2009–2018Land used for crop production by province
2009–2017Land used for crop production by population group and sex of the household head

Basic population statistics

3 indicators · 65 source tables

Population

2002–2023Population by province, population group and sex
2002–2023Population by age group, population group and sex

Labour market

2002–2007Workers (employers, employees and self-employed), by main industry, population group and sex

Disability

3 indicators · 45 source tables

2009–2018Population aged 5 years and older that have some difficulty or are unable to do basic activities, by province
2010–2018Population aged 5 years and older that have some difficulty, a lot of difficulty or are unable to do basic activities, by population group and sex
2009–2018Population aged 5 years and older that are using assistive devices, by sex and province

Education

17 indicators · 352 source tables

Educational attainment

2002–2025Population aged 20 years and older, by highest level of education and province
2002–2018Population aged 20 years and older, by highest level of education, population group and sex

Attendance

2004–2025Population aged 5 years and older attending an educational institution, by type of institution and province
2002–2025Population attending an educational institution, by type of institution, age group and sex
2002–2017Population aged 5 years and older attending an educational institution, by annual tuition fee, population group and sex
2009–2025Population aged 5 years and older currently attending school by grade and by province
2004–2018Population aged 5 years and older attending an educational institution, by type of institution, population group and sex
2004–2018Population attending and not attending an educational institution by population group and age group
2009–2018Population aged 5 years and older attending an educational institution, by the kind of problems they experience at the institution, and by province
2002–2008Population aged 7-15 years not attending an educational institution, by the reason for not attending and province
2002–2008Population aged 7-15 years not attending an educational institution, by the reason for not attending, population group and sex
2005–2024Population attending educational institution by tuition fee and institution type
2009–2017Population aged 5 years and older attending an educational institution that benefited from reductions or partial bursaries, by type of institution, sex and province

Early childhood

2009–2025Population aged 0-4 years attending a day care centre, creche, early childhood development centre (ECD) playgroup, nursery school or pre-primary school, by whether they attend or not, and by province

Literacy

2009–2018Population aged 15 years and older with a level of education lower than Grade 7, by literacy skills and province
2009–2018Population aged 15 years and older with a level of education lower than Grade 7, by literacy skills and age group
2009–2018Population aged 15 years and older with a level of education lower than Grade 7, who have some, a lot of difficulty or are unable to do basic literacy activities by sex and province

Energy

9 indicators · 169 source tables

Energy for lighting

2002–2025Households by province and main source of energy - For lighting
2003–2018Main source of energy used by households, by population group of the household head: For lighting

Energy for heating

2002–2025Households by province and main source of energy - For heating
2003–2025Main source of energy used by households, by population group of the household head: For heating
2002–2023Type of dwelling of households, by main source of energy - For heating

Energy for cooking

2002–2022Households by province and main source of energy - For cooking
2003–2018Main source of energy used by households, by population group of the household head: For cooking
2002–2009Type of dwelling of households, by main source of energy: For cooking

Environment

2 indicators · 32 source tables

2010–2025Environmental problems experienced in the community or neighbouring farms, by population group and sex of the household head
2011–2018Environmental problems experienced in the community or neighbouring farms, by province

Health

11 indicators · 232 source tables

Medical aid

2002–2024Medical aid coverage, by age group
2004–2024Medical aid coverage, by population group and sex
2009–2018Medical aid coverage, by province and population group
2011–2017The household's normal place of consultation and whether at least one member is covered by medical aid

Illness and injury

2002–2018People who were sick/injured and did not consult a health worker in the month prior to the interview, by the reason for not consulting, population group and sex
2009–2018People who were ill in the month prior to the interview and who consulted a health worker, by province
2009–2024Population suffering from chronic health conditions as diagnosed by a medical practitioner or nurse, by sex and province
2003–2008People who were sick/injured and consulted a health worker in the month prior to the interview, by type of health worker and province

Health facilities

2011–2018The respondent's level of satisfaction with the service received during their most recent visit, by kind of health facility used
2011–2018The respondent’s level of satisfaction with the service received during their most recent visit, by population group and sex

Household assets and appliances

1 indicator · 23 source tables

2012–2025Number of households owning a particular asset by province

Housing

10 indicators · 192 source tables

Dwelling and rooms

2004–2025Type of dwelling, by number of rooms in the dwelling - Other population groups
2002–2019Type of dwelling of households, by province
2004–2025Type of dwelling, by number of rooms in the dwelling - All population groups
2011–2025Type of dwelling, by number of rooms in the dwelling - Black African population group

Energy for heating

2005–2025Type of dwelling of households, by main source of energy - For heating

Energy for lighting

2005–2025Type of dwelling of households, by main source of energy - For lighting

Energy for cooking

2005–2018Type of dwelling of households, by main source of energy: For cooking

Income and expenditure

4 indicators · 76 source tables

Expenditure

2009–2025Monthly household expenditure category, by population group and sex of the household head
2009–2025Monthly household expenditure category, by province

Income sources

2009–2024Households’ sources of income, by population group and sex of the household head
2010–2024Sources of income for households, by province

Labour

0 indicators · 11 source tables

No indicator in this subject yet runs for five years or more, so nothing here is charted. The source tables are held and downloadable.

Refuse removal

3 indicators · 45 source tables

2005–2018Type of refuse removal services used by households, by population group of the household head
2010–2018Households currently paying for the removal of refuse, by province
2010–2018Households who pay for their refuse removal, by type of refuse removal service and province

Social security

1 indicator · 47 source tables

2009–2025Population that received social grants, relief assistance or social relief, by population group, sex and province

Survey documentation

0 indicators · 2 source tables

No indicator in this subject yet runs for five years or more, so nothing here is charted. The source tables are held and downloadable.

Telecommunications

4 indicators · 82 source tables

2009–2025Households' ownership of a cellular phone, by province
2009–2018Households' ownership of a landline phone, by province
2009–2025Households with connection of a landline phone, by population group and sex of the household head
2011–2018Households' ownership of a cellular phone, by population group and sex of the household head

Transport

4 indicators · 105 source tables

Expenditure

2010–2025Money spent during the previous calendar week by households per transport mode, by the sex of the household head

Health facilities

2009–2025Time taken to get to the health facility that members of the household normally go to, by transport mode

Transport to services

2010–2018Distance travelled to get to the nearest minibus taxi/sedan taxi/bakkie taxi, bus and train, by population group of the household head
2013–2018Number of trips made by household members per week using each of the following modes of transport, by province

Water and sanitation

9 indicators · 152 source tables

Sanitation

2002–2025Households by sanitation facility and province
2005–2024Sanitation facility used by households, by population group of the household head
2005–2025Sanitation facility used by households, by type of dwelling

Water supply

2009–2025Households without water in the dwelling or on site, by the distance household members have to travel to reach the nearest water source, and population group of the household head
2002–2012Main source of water for households, by province
2002–2012Households by type of dwelling and main source of water
2011–2018Households whose main source of water was supplied by the local municipality, by population group and sex of the household head
2002–2012Households by main source of water and population group of the household head

Water quality

2010–2018Households’ perceptions of water quality, per province

Data integrity

Source: Statistics South Africa, General Household Survey (P0318), annual releases 2002-2025. Figures are reproduced exactly as printed.
No interpolation: A year appears in a series only where the source publishes a value. Gaps are left as gaps.
Suppression: '*' marks cells Stats SA suppressed because the sample was too small. '-' marks a true nil. Both are preserved as printed and are never charted as zero.
Units: Editions print the same quantity as 'N (1 000)', 'N (1000)' or 'Thousands'. These are normalised to Thousands for charting; the printed value is unchanged.
Table renumbering: Stats SA renumbers its tables between editions, most severely in 2020 and 2021. Series follow the indicator itself, so a figure stays on one line even when its table number changes.
Conflicts: Where one topic publishes two different values for the same year under identical dimensions, that year is withheld from the series rather than resolved by guesswork.
Verification: 44 tables were re-read against the printed source pages and corrected after routine quality checks found a dimension missing. Those tables carry the figures as re-verified.
Known partial: One table, 2025 table 12.3, is captured in part only. The remaining columns are outstanding. Every other table in the archive is complete.
2020 and 2021 editions: Stats SA changed the format of the 2020 and 2021 releases. Several tables in those years compare two years side by side rather than reporting one, and the technical notes carry response rates by metro. Topic titles for those editions reflect what the source printed.
Licence: Statistics South Africa's General Household Survey may be reproduced for research and public interest use but may not be sold without prior written permission. This archive is published free of charge and is not sold. Copyright in the original figures rests with Statistics South Africa.