The Census 2022 registered a 31% undercount rate, meaning about a third of people and households in South Africa were not counted.
In 2011, the undercount rate was 14.6%, which the Statistician-General at the time, Pali Lehohla, called concerningly high.
The Statistics Council, which conducted oversight on the production of stats, endorsed the census 2022 data, saying it met the organisation’s acceptable standards.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleka said there should be no concerns over the validity of the figures, as they had been adjusted to compensate for the undercount.
“The provinces with the higher undercounts mean they will have higher adjustments when we are dealing with adjustments out of what we got and what we are adjusting, and this is done in line with the United Nations methods and that makes sure that we have the quality of our date guaranteed.”
