Income

Total income for the agricultural industry in 2023 was R491,7 billion. The total income represents an increase of 6,8% per annum compared with the income reported in the 2017 Census of Commercial Agriculture (CoCA) which was R332,0 billion. In 2023, the main contributor to total income was farming of animals (R186,1 billion or 37,8%), followed by mixed farming (R115,9 billion or 23,6%) and horticulture (R103,5 billion or 21,0%).

The largest gain in percentage share of income was in agricultural services and fertiliser production (+1,4 percentage points, from 1,1% in 2017 to 2,5% in 2023). Over the same period, the largest loss in percentage share was in farming of animals (‑2,4 percentage points, from 40,2% to 37,8%).

The province contributing the most to total income in 2023 was Western Cape (R100,9 billion of the national total), followed by Free State (R80,2 billion), Gauteng (R55,5 billion), Mpumalanga (R52,2 billion) and North West (R52,2 billion).

Employment

The total number of persons employed in the agricultural industry as at 30 June 2023 (770 181) represents an annualised increase of 0,5% compared with the number employed as at 30 June 2018 (753 059). In terms of employment, the agricultural activity with the most number of employees in 2023 was horticulture (311 426 employees or 40,4% of the national total), followed by mixed farming (154 409 or 20,0%) and growing of cereals and other crops (139 210 or 18,1%).

There was a large drop in the percentage share of employment in farming of animals between 2018 and 2023 (‑5,1 percentage points, from 22,9% to 17,8%). There largest gains in percentage share were in horticulture (+3,8 percentage points, from 36,6% to 40,4%) and agricultural services and fertiliser production (+1,9 percentage points, from 1,8% to 3,7%).

Western Cape was by far the largest employer in 2023 (195 984 employees of the national total), followed by Limpopo (103 404) and KwaZulu-Natal (88 025). The provinces with the smallest number of employees were Gauteng (38 386) and North West (58 777).

Between 2018 and 2023, KwaZulu-Natal lost the largest number of jobs (-7 038), followed by Northern Cape (-3 147) and Mpumalanga (-928). This was offset by gains in the following provinces: Western Cape (+8 988 jobs); Limpopo (+5 984); Free State (+5 700 jobs); and Eastern Cape (+5 381 jobs).

Field crops

Between 2017 and 2023, the area planted increased for maize, soya beans, wheat, sunflower seeds and sugarcane. All major field crops were mostly planted under dry land. In 2023, the crop with the highest proportion planted under dry land was sunflower seeds (93,6%), followed by soya beans (90,4%), maize (90,0%), sugarcane (72,8%) and wheat (69,2%).

Vegetables

The major vegetables in terms of area planted were potatoes, onions, tomatoes and cabbages. Potatoes dominated the area planted and production in both 2017 and 2023. Potatoes and cabbages showed an increase in area planted between 2017 and 2023.

Citrus fruits

Oranges accounted for 56 208 hectares planted in 2023, up by 13,8% from 2017. There were large increases in naartjies (47,8%) and lemons (53,6%) in terms of area planted between 2017 and 2023.

Subtropical fruits

Between 2017 and 2023, banana production decreased by 15,4% (from 220 thousand tons to 186 thousand tons). Bananas showed a decrease in production per hectare from 21,1 tons per hectare in 2017 to 18,3 tons per hectare in 2023.

Deciduous fruits and viticulture

In terms of area planted, apples, pears, table grapes and wine grapes showed increases between 2017 and 2023. Among major deciduous fruits and viticulture, wine grapes had the largest area planted (in hectares) in both years. Between 2017 and 2023, the highest increase in production were for apples (37,1%) (from 907 thousand tons to 1,2 million tons) and wine grapes (21,9%) (from 783 thousand tons to 955 thousand tons).

Animals

Cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens are the most reared animals in the agricultural industry in South Africa. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of cattle sold decreased by 12,1% (from 3,2 million to 2,9 million). The leading provinces in cattle sales in 2023 were Free State (accounting for 22,9% of the national total), Gauteng (20,0%) and Mpumalanga (13,4%).