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The population of a country and its growth rate are key long-term components of its unemployment rate and its per capita income levels. Essentially, a larger population can mean that each individual gets a smaller share of the economic pie. An influx of foreigners such as South Africa gets from Africa to the North or America gets across its southern border with Mexico can mean that there are more people for a shrinking number of jobs leading to dangerous levels of unemployment. The growth of the population also ultimately means a rising number of school-leavers who have to be accommodated in the work force. Population growth rates worldwide have been declining and it is estimated that the world population will stabilise around the year 2040 and then begin to decline. Population growth is closely linked to standards of living and education levels. In first world countries (such as the Scandinavian countries) where there is a high standard of living,  population growth rates are often negative. In South Africa the population growth rate has declined. In mid-2022 the population was estimated to be 60,6m. About 62.7% of our population are in the age group between 15 and 59 years old and 28% are children under the age of 15. Only 9% are over the age of 60. In the five years between 2016 and 2021 net immigration into South Africa was estimated to be about 1 million - most of them coming from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

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