Most births occurred in March, May and April, with the least number of births in November.
South Africa recorded a decline in birth registrations for the third consecutive year in 2024, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
The highest registrations were recorded in 2005 with a total of 1 380 496 birth registrations. The registrations declined in 2006 and 2007.
Between 2008 and 2010, the numbers fluctuated, but then declined steadily from 2011 until 2016.
Although the years 2017 to 2021 saw a rise again, it never returned to the 2005 level. The country has experienced more declines since 2022.
The numbers are based on recorded live births data from the department of home affairs. The total numbers include current birth registrations and birth occurrences for 2024, recorded over a 14-month period from January 2024 to February 2025, as well as births that occurred in 2023 and earlier years but were captured during the same period.
ALSO READ: South Africa sees decline in births for 2023, this was the surname that topped the list
In 2022, the total number of births that were registered was 998 362 [86 376 late registrations], followed by a decline to 932 138 [83 801 late registrations] in 2023 and another decline to 863 858 [75 925 late registrations] in 2024.
There were 396 845 male and 391 088 female births that took place in 2024 and registered the same year.
Births by province
The highest number of total births was registered in Gauteng (207 120), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (183 377), Limpopo (105 384) and Eastern Cape (93 308). For other provinces, total birth registrations were below 90 000.
When population size is taken into account, the highest proportion of birth occurrences relative to population was recorded in the Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces, and the lowest in the North West, Western Cape and Gauteng provinces.
Most births occurred in March, May, and April, with the least number of births in November.
Most popular baby names
Lethabo was the most popular name for males for the second consecutive year, while Onalerona was the most popular name among females for the second consecutive year.
Lethabo, the most popular name for males, was also the fifth most popular for females.
ALSO READ: Reproductive Health Month: The impact of infertility in South Africa
The names which were on the top 10 most popular baby names for both sexes were Lethabo, Nkanyezi and Lesedi. For middle names, the most popular choices for females were Precious, Princess and Blessing.
Among males, Junior, Blessing and Gift were the top three most popular middle names.
As in previous years, nine of the surnames were from Nguni clans, namely isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati. Mokoena, which featured as the sixth most popular surname, was the only non-Nguni surname.
