As of 2018, the languages most commonly spoken by individuals inside of South African households were isiZulu at 25.3 percent, isiXhosa at 14.8 percent and Afrikaans at 12.2 percent respectively. While English only accounts for the sixth most common language spoken inside of South African households at 8.1 percent, it is the second-most prevalent language spoken outside of homes, at 16.6 percent.

Statistics of the Languages spoken in South Africa. For each language, we report the ISO, the African subfamily, and the prevalent countries where the language is also spoken.

As of 2022, there were over 2,000 living languages in Africa. With 520 languages, Nigeria accounted for around a fourth of the total languages spoken in Africa. Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo followed, each with over 200 living languages.

Africa's linguistic diversity

Africa boasted a repertoire of more than 2,000 living languages as of 2021. The continent had more than 900 classified as vigorous due to their widespread usage in face-to-face communication across all age groups. A regional perspective on the matter revealed that East Africa was Africa's most linguistically diverse region.

Embracing diversity: Africans welcome ethnic diversity in neighbors

In terms of cultural diversity, in 2021, the Republic of Chad held the title of being Africa's and the world's most culturally diverse nation. It obtained a cultural diversity index score of 0.85, with Cameroon and Nigeria following closely behind, scoring 0.84 and 0.83, respectively. The index measures diversity on a scale from zero to one, where one signifies the highest diversity level, while zero indicates the lowest level. Moreover, a survey conducted between 2019 and 2021 showed that Africans would be happy to have neighbors of different ethnicity.

High quality TTS data for four South African languages - Afrikaans

  Source - https://openslr.org/32/





  Identifier: SLR32

Summary: Multi-speaker TTS data for four South African languages - Afrikaans License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) About this resource: This data set contains multi-speaker high quality transcribed audio data for four languages of South Africa. The data set consists of wave files, and a TSV file transcribing the audio.… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/voice-biomarkers/openslr-32-hq-SA-languages-Afrikaans.

High quality TTS data for four South African languages - Setswana

  Source - https://openslr.org/32/





  Identifier: SLR32

Summary: Multi-speaker TTS data for four South African languages - Setswana License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) About this resource: This data set contains multi-speaker high quality transcribed audio data for four languages of South Africa. The data set consists of wave files, and a TSV file transcribing the audio.… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/voice-biomarkers/openslr-32-hq-SA-languages-Setswana.

As of 2022, the number of households in South Africa increased and amounted to approximately 18.48 million, roughly 530,000 more than in the previous year. Between 2002 and 2022, the number of families in South Africa grew by around 65 percent. Looking at the number of households from a regional perspective , the Gauteng province (includes the city of Johannesburg) has the bulk of households, with almost 5.6 million residences. Although Gauteng is the smallest region in the country, it is highly urbanized and houses most of the population.

Households headed by women

The number of households headed by women averaged around 42 percent. Rural areas such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo had a higher proportion of women in charge of their family unit. Urbanized regions, namely Gauteng and the Western Cape, were more likely to be headed by men.

Languages spoken in households

The most spoken language within and outside of South African households was isiZulu, with around 25 percent of the population utilizing it. The English language was the second most common language spoken outside of households, with a share of roughly 17 percent. However, within households, individuals preferred to speak other official languages such as isiXhosa and Afrikaans. South Africa has a diverse range of cultures, and language plays a crucial role in preserving these cultures.

The primary languages spoken at home in Nigeria are Hausa, Yoruba, and English. In a survey conducted in 2022 around 32 percent of respondents declared that they mainly spoke Hausa at home. Some 17 percent, on the other hand, had Yoruba as their main family language. Igbo followed, with 13 percent of the respondents indicating it. Some other languages spoken in Nigerian households are English, Ibibio, Fulani, Tiv, Nupe, Pidgin English, and Ijaw.

One of the most diverse countries

There are over 500 languages in Nigeria. The country has only one official language, English. According to estimates from 2018, Nigeria's major ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, Tiv, Kanuri, and Beriberi. Hausa, the largest population, is an ethnic group of people speaking the Hausa language. The Hausa are mainly present in West Africa, most of them living between Nigeria and Niger.

English is the main language at school

The main language of instruction at school is generally English. However, for the first years of education, an indigenous or local language is also taught. As of 2019, around 72 percent of young women and 78 percent of young men in Nigeria were English language literates. This means they could understand, read, and write a short and simple statement in English, for instance, on their everyday life.

The Corpus of Spoken isiXhosa

The Corpus of Spoken isiXhosa consists of transcribed and annotated recordings of spoken Xhosa [xho]. The recordings have been made in the Eastern Cape in South Africa from 2015 onwards. The transcribed texts are annotated with morpheme-by-morpheme glosses, part-of-speech tags, and free English translations.

The recordings and the annotations of Xhosa data have been made as part of three different research projects led by senior lecturer Eva-Marie Bloom Ström at the University of Gothenburg. All projects, including the ongoing ‘How do words get in order? The role of speaker-hearer interaction in languages of southern Africa’, were founded by the Swedish Research Council.

The Corpus has been developed in collaboration with Språkbanken Text.

A user guide and more extensive information about the corpus data can be found in the Corpus of Spoken isiXhosa Manual [PDF].

For more on annotation, preparation of data, and acknowledgements see:

Bloom Ström, E.-M., Slater, O., Zahran, A., Berdicevskis, A., & Schumacher, A. (2023). Preparing a corpus of spoken Xhosa. Proceedings of the 2023 CLASP Conference on Learning with Small Data (LSD), 62–67. https://aclanthology.org/2023.clasp-1.7

For questions about the corpus: Eva-Marie Bloom Ström eva-marie.strom@gu.se

If you notice any errors or inconsistencies in annotations, please report them to this email address.

Main contributors:

Eva-Marie Bloom Ström Senior Lecturer, University of Gothenburg Onelisa Slater MA, Rhodes University Aron Zahran PhD, Inalco/Llacan (CNRS) & Ghent University

This survey is part of a series of studies designed to assess attitudes about democracy, markets, and civil society in African nations, and to track the evolution of such attitudes in those nations over time. This particular survey was concerned with the attitudes and opinions of the citizens of South Africa. Respondents were asked to rate South African President Mbeki and his administrations' overall performance and to state the most important issue facing the nation. Opinions were gathered on the role of the government in improving the economy, whether corruption existed in local and national government, whether government officials were responsive to problems of the general population, and whether local government officials, the police, the courts, the overall criminal justice system, the South African Defense Force, the media, the Independent Electoral Commission, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation could be trusted. Respondents were polled on their knowledge of government officials, their level of personal involvement in political, governmental, and community affairs, the inclusiveness of the government, and what their reactions would be to executive branch-sponsored government-imposed restrictions or prohibitions on the media, the judicial system, and parliament. Economic questions addressed the past, present, and future of the country's and the respondent's economic condition, whether great income disparities are fair, and whether encouraging people to start small businesses would create more jobs. Societal questions addressed how much trust could be placed in others, whether it is wise to plan ahead, whether everyone should be responsible for themselves and their own success or failure, what characteristics respondents used to identify themselves, whether it was easy to obtain assistance with securing food, water, schooling, and medical services, and by what methods respondents secured food, water, news, information, and medical services. Respondents were also asked whether they had checked with other adults in their household to answer questions. Background variables include age, language spoken most at home, education, current employment status, employment status over the last 12 months, employment history, family financial situation over the last 12 months, monetary support system, whether a close friend or relative had died from AIDS, language used in interview, sex, ethnicity, type of physical disability, if any, type of housing, location of interview (inside, outside, or both), and respondent's attitude during interview.

Abstract

Censuses are principal means of collecting basic population and housing statistics required for social and economic development, policy interventions, their implementation and evaluation.The census plays an essential role in public administration. The results are used to ensure: • equity in distribution of government services • distributing and allocating government funds among various regions and districts for education and health services • delineating electoral districts at national and local levels, and • measuring the impact of industrial development, to name a few The census also provides the benchmark for all surveys conducted by the national statistical office. Without the sampling frame derived from the census, the national statistical system would face difficulties in providing reliable official statistics for use by government and the public. Census also provides information on small areas and population groups with minimum sampling errors. This is important, for example, in planning the location of a school or clinic. Census information is also invaluable for use in the private sector for activities such as business planning and market analyses. The information is used as a benchmark in research and analysis.

Census 2011 was the third democratic census to be conducted in South Africa. Census 2011 specific objectives included: - To provide statistics on population, demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics; - To provide a base for the selection of a new sampling frame; - To provide data at lowest geographical level; and - To provide a primary base for the mid-year projections.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households, Individuals

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

About the Questionnaire : Much emphasis has been placed on the need for a population census to help government direct its development programmes, but less has been written about how the census questionnaire is compiled. The main focus of a population and housing census is to take stock and produce a total count of the population without omission or duplication. Another major focus is to be able to provide accurate demographic and socio-economic characteristics pertaining to each individual enumerated. Apart from individuals, the focus is on collecting accurate data on housing characteristics and services.A population and housing census provides data needed to facilitate informed decision-making as far as policy formulation and implementation are concerned, as well as to monitor and evaluate their programmes at the smallest area level possible. It is therefore important that Statistics South Africa collects statistical data that comply with the United Nations recommendations and other relevant stakeholder needs.

The United Nations underscores the following factors in determining the selection of topics to be investigated in population censuses: a) The needs of a broad range of data users in the country; b) Achievement of the maximum degree of international comparability, both within regions and on a worldwide basis; c) The probable willingness and ability of the public to give adequate information on the topics; and d) The total national resources available for conducting a census.

In addition, the UN stipulates that census-takers should avoid collecting information that is no longer required simply because it was traditionally collected in the past, but rather focus on key demographic, social and socio-economic variables.It becomes necessary, therefore, in consultation with a broad range of users of census data, to review periodically the topics traditionally investigated and to re-evaluate the need for the series to which they contribute, particularly in the light of new data needs and alternative data sources that may have become available for investigating topics formerly covered in the population census. It was against this background that Statistics South Africa conducted user consultations in 2008 after the release of some of the Community Survey products. However, some groundwork in relation to core questions recommended by all countries in Africa has been done. In line with users' meetings, the crucial demands of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should also be met. It is also imperative that Stats SA meet the demands of the users that require small area data.

Accuracy of data depends on a well-designed questionnaire that is short and to the point. The interview to complete the questionnaire should not take longer than 18 minutes per household. Accuracy also depends on the diligence of the enumerator and honesty of the respondent.On the other hand, disadvantaged populations, owing to their small numbers, are best covered in the census and not in household sample surveys.Variables such as employment/unemployment, religion, income, and language are more accurately covered in household surveys than in censuses.Users'/stakeholders' input in terms of providing information in the planning phase of the census is crucial in making it a success. However, the information provided should be within the scope of the census.

1. The Household Questionnaire is divided into the following sections:
2. Household identification particulars

3. Individual particulars Section A: Demographics Section B: Migration Section C: General Health and Functioning Section D: Parental Survival and Income Section E: Education Section F: Employment Section G: Fertility (Women 12-50 Years Listed) Section H: Housing, Household Goods and Services and Agricultural Activities Section I: Mortality in the Last 12 Months The Household Questionnaire is available in Afrikaans; English; isiZulu; IsiNdebele; Sepedi; SeSotho; SiSwati;Tshivenda;Xitsonga

4. The Transient and Tourist Hotel Questionnaire (English) is divided into the following sections:

5. Name, Age, Gender, Date of Birth, Marital Status, Population Group, Country of birth, Citizenship, Province.

6. The Questionnaire for Institutions (English) is divided into the following sections:

7. Particulars of the institution

8. Availability of piped water for the institution

9. Main source of water for domestic use

10. Main type of toilet facility

11. Type of energy/fuel used for cooking, heating and lighting at the institution

12. Disposal of refuse or rubbish

13. Asset ownership (TV, Radio, Landline telephone, Refrigerator, Internet facilities)

14. List of persons in the institution on census night (name, date of birth, sex, population group, marital status, barcode number)

15. The Post Enumeration Survey Questionnaire (English)

These questionnaires are provided as external resources.

Cleaning operations

Data editing and validation system The execution of each phase of Census operations introduces some form of errors in Census data. Despite quality assurance methodologies embedded in all the phases; data collection, data capturing (both manual and automated), coding, and editing, a number of errors creep in and distort the collected information. To promote consistency and improve on data quality, editing is a paramount phase in identifying and minimising errors such as invalid values, inconsistent entries or unknown/missing values. The editing process for Census 2011 was based on defined rules (specifications).

The editing of Census 2011 data involved a number of sequential processes: selection of members of the editing team, review of Census 2001 and 2007 Community Survey editing specifications, development of editing specifications for the Census 2011 pre-tests (2009 pilot and 2010 Dress Rehearsal), development of firewall editing specifications and finalisation of specifications for the main Census.

Editing team The Census 2011 editing team was drawn from various divisions of the organisation based on skills and experience in data editing. The team thus composed of subject matter specialists (demographers and programmers), managers as well as data processors. Census 2011 editing team was drawn from various divisions of the organization based on skills and experience in data editing. The team thus composed of subject matter specialists (demographers and programmers), managers as well as data processors.

The Census 2011 questionnaire was very complex, characterised by many sections, interlinked questions and skipping instructions. Editing of such complex, interlinked data items required application of a combination of editing techniques. Errors relating to structure were resolved using structural query language (SQL) in Oracle dataset. CSPro software was used to resolve content related errors. The strategy used for Census 2011 data editing was implementation of automated error detection and correction with minimal changes. Combinations of logical and dynamic imputation/editing were used. Logical imputations were preferred, and in many cases substantial effort was undertaken to deduce a consistent value based on the rest of the household’s information. To profile the extent of changes in the dataset and assess the effects of imputation, a set of imputation flags are included in the edited dataset. Imputation flags values include the following: 0 no imputation was performed; raw data were preserved 1 Logical editing was performed, raw data were blank 2 logical editing was performed, raw data were not blank 3 hot-deck imputation was performed, raw data were blank 4 hot-deck imputation was performed, raw data were not blank

Data appraisal

Independent monitoring and evaluation of Census field activities Independent monitoring of the Census 2011 field activities was carried out by a team of 31 professionals and 381 Monitoring

In 2020, cumulative South African emigrants amounted to roughly 915,000. The vast majority settled in the United Kingdom (around 247,000), followed by Australia (nearly 200,000). Together, the two countries constituted roughly 49 percent of the total South African migrants living abroad. Moreover, the third major country of destination for South Africans was the United States, with about 117,000 people living there. Overall, the 21 countries presented covered 94.4 percent of all South African migrants.

Language: a primary driver of emigration destinations

Language is a factor that helps ease communication and integration for individuals within a new society. Noticeably, the five leading destinations for South African emigrants had English as an official language. In South Africa, English was the second most spoken language outside households. Furthermore, the Netherlands ranked seventh, which language can also justify. Afrikaans, a language developed from 17th-century Dutch, was the third most spoken language among households in South Africa.

Unemployment a major worry and prevalent among youth    

A real worry for South Africans in 2022 was unemployment. As of April 2022, 64 percent of the respondents of a survey reported concern regarding the job market and the unemployment situation in the country. As of the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate among the age groups 15-24 years and 25-34 years was significantly higher than the rest, reaching 63.9 percent and 42.1 percent, respectively.

Snapshot img

Digital English Language Learning Market Size 2025-2029

The digital english language learning market size is forecast to increase by USD 39.46 billion, at a CAGR of 24.5% between 2024 and 2029.

The market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increased flexibility offered by digital courses. This flexibility caters to the diverse learning needs and schedules of students, making language learning more accessible than ever before. Another key trend in the market is the increasing adoption of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in English classrooms. These immersive learning tools enhance the learning experience by providing students with interactive and engaging environments, fostering better comprehension and retention of new skills. Furthermore, substantial investments in digital learning infrastructure are being made by educational institutions and corporations alike, ensuring a robust foundation for the continued expansion of digital English language learning solutions.
However, challenges persist, such as the need for effective pedagogical strategies to optimize the use of digital tools and addressing the digital divide, ensuring equitable access to digital language learning resources for all students. Companies seeking to capitalize on market opportunities must focus on developing innovative digital language learning solutions that effectively address these challenges, while navigating the competitive landscape with strategic partnerships and collaborations.

What will be the Size of the Digital English Language Learning Market during the forecast period?

Explore in-depth regional segment analysis with market size data - historical 2019-2023 and forecasts 2025-2029 - in the full report.
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The market continues to evolve, with various entities shaping its dynamics. English language assessment tools, such as those for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS, remain integral. Adaptive learning technologies, personalized learning paths, and pronunciation training are essential components, enhancing the learning experience. Multimedia resources and digital courseware facilitate immersive learning, while virtual classroom software enables real-time interaction. Translation services and language learning platforms offer access to vast repositories of educational content. Gamified language learning, live online tutoring, and interactive exercises engage learners, fostering progress. Voice-to-text software and conversation practice tools cater to pronunciation and speaking skills.

Language learning apps, grammar learning platforms, and automated feedback systems streamline the learning process. Machine translation, subtitle creation, and educational content creation tools broaden accessibility. Interpreting services and e-learning platforms further expand the market's reach. Interactive whiteboards and immersive learning experiences provide visual aids, while speech recognition technology and text-to-speech software cater to diverse learning styles. Progress tracking dashboards and language learning games offer insights into learners' progress and motivation. The market's continuous evolution ensures a dynamic and adaptive learning landscape.

How is this Digital English Language Learning Industry segmented?

The digital english language learning industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD million' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

End-user

  Non academic learners
  Academic learners


Deployment

  On premises
  Cloud based


Platform Type

  Mobile Apps
  Web-based
  Desktop Software


Learning Method

  Self-Paced
  Instructor-Led
  Blended


Geography

  North America

    US
    Canada


  Europe

    France
    Germany
    Italy
    Spain
    UK


  Middle East and Africa

    UAE


  APAC

    China
    India
    Japan
    South Korea


  South America

    Brazil


  Rest of World (ROW)

By End-user Insights

The non academic learners segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

The market experiences significant growth due to the increasing demand from both corporate and individual learners. Corporations, a key sub-segment of non-academic learners, heavily rely on digital English language learning solutions for effective communication and international business operations. This trend is further accentuated by the growing diversity in corporate workforces and increased online communication. Standardized English proficiency tests, such as IELTS and TOEFL, serve as benchmarks for language proficiency in various organizations, thereby fueling the demand for digital English language learning courses. Individual learners

Data sheet for the Simple View of Reading study in Northern Sotho-English (Grade2- Grade3) bilingual children. The study investigates the Simple View of Reading Theory in reading comprehension abilities of Northern Sotho first language speakers learning to read in a second language (English). A quantitative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Ethical approval was sought from Univesity of South Africa and the Department of Basic Education.

As of 2022, South Africa's population increased and counted approximately 60.6 million inhabitants in total, of which the majority (roughly 49.1 million) were Black Africans. Individuals with an Indian or Asian background formed the smallest population group, counting approximately 1.56 million people overall. Looking at the population from a regional perspective, Gauteng (includes Johannesburg) is the smallest province of South Africa, though highly urbanized with a population of nearly 16 million people.

Increase in number of households

The total number of households increased annually between 2002 and 2022. Between this period, the number of households in South Africa grew by approximately 65 percent. Furthermore, households comprising two to three members were more common in urban areas (39.2 percent) than they were in rural areas (30.6 percent). Households with six or more people, on the other hand, amounted to 19.3 percent in rural areas, being roughly twice as common as those in urban areas.

Main sources of income

The majority of the households in South Africa had salaries or grants as a main source of income in 2019. Roughly 10.7 million drew their income from regular wages, whereas 7.9 million households received social grants paid by the government for citizens in need of state support.

South Africa is the sixth African country with the largest population, counting approximately 60.5 million individuals as of 2021. In 2023, the largest city in South Africa was Cape Town. The capital of Western Cape counted 3.4 million inhabitants, whereas South Africa's second largest city was Durban (eThekwini Municipality), with 3.1 million inhabitants. Note that when observing the number of inhabitants by municipality, Johannesburg is counted as largest city/municipality of South Africa.

From four provinces to nine provinces

Before Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, the country had four provinces, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal and 10 “homelands” (also called Bantustans). The four larger regions were for the white population while the homelands for its black population. This system was dismantled following the new constitution of South Africa in 1996 and reorganized into nine provinces. Currently, Gauteng is the most populated province with around 15.9 million people residing there, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 11.68 million inhabiting the province. As of 2022, Black African individuals were almost 81 percent of the total population in the country, while colored citizens followed amounting to around 5.34 million.

A diverse population

Although the majority of South Africans are identified as Black, the country’s population is far from homogenous, with different ethnic groups usually residing in the different “homelands”. This can be recognizable through the various languages used to communicate between the household members and externally. IsiZulu was the most common language of the nation with around a quarter of the population using it in- and outside of households. IsiXhosa and Afrikaans ranked second and third with roughly 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively.