South Africa: student participation rates by population group

As of 2022, 5.5 percent of Black Africans aged 18 to 29 were enrolled at a higher education institution in South Africa, which marks an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared to 2002. And while Black Africans constituted the majority of young adult students in numbers, the participation rate of this population group continued to be lower compared to the Indian/Asians at 19.6 percent and the white population group at 17.7 percent.

Share of student participation rates for individuals aged 18-29 in South Africa in 2002 and 2022, by population group

Characteristic	2002	2022
Black African	2.9%	5.5%
Colored	3.6%	5.2%
Indian/Asian	12.8%	19.6%
White	15.5%	17.7%

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Release date

August 2023

More information

Region

South Africa

Survey time period

2002 and 2022

Age group

18-29 years

Supplementary notes

The source noted the following: ''The survey estimates that 1.03 million students were enrolled at higher education institutions (universities and universities of technology) in 2021.
Some 76.4% of these students were Black African, while 11,4% were white, 5.7% were Indian/Asian, and 6.5% were colored.''
Colored is a common and accepted term used to describe a population group in South Africa.

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