City of Cape Town

Indicator	Number of Households
Description	The projected number of households for Cape Town using the 2001 Census as a starting point.

Existing Trends

Year	Total formal households (a)	Total informal households (with and without tenure) (b)	Informal housing units (WITHOUT tenure)*	Total households (a+b)	Comments
2001	667 284	110 109		777 393	Census 2001 data (Stats SA)
2002	687 303	111 210	83 684*	798 513	Projected figures (a and b)
2003	707 922	112 322	96 951*	820 244	Projected figures (a and b)
2004	729 159	113 445	94 972*	842 605	Projected figures (a and b)
2005	751 034	114 580	98 031*	865 614	Projected figures (a and b)
2006	773 565	115 726	104 216*	889 291	Projected figures (a and b)
2007	787 489	116 883	108 899*	904 372	Projected figures (a and b)

* Actual counts

Significance	The projections are based on 3% per annum increase until 2006 and a 2% increase in 2007 for formal households (a). 1% per annum increase was used for informal households (b).
Implications	The annual rate of increase in the number of households has declined as a result of declining population growth rate, but not at the same rate. This results in household numbers growing faster than absolute population. The reason for this is that household size is reducing as a result of increasing divorce rate, single headed households, more young single people buying property, and people claiming child support grants as each regard themselves as a household.
References	Household Numbers in Cape Town – Discussion Document (2006)
Contact	Karen Small Head: Strategic Information Analysis and Research Strategic Development Information and GIS Karen.Small@capetown.gov.za
Complied by	Strategic Information, Strategic Development Information and GIS Department
Updated	2007/09/29