South Africa: share of medical aid scheme members, by population group

As of 2022, 15.8 percent of all individuals in South Africa were members of medical aid schemes, which presents a slight decrease from 16 percent recorded in the previous year. Considering the total population in the period under review, this accounts for around 9.7 million residents having private medical care. This leaves approximately 52 million dependent on public health care, with a share of 84.2 percent. When comparing membership rates by population group, coverage by medical schemes were noticeably higher amongst white individuals (at 71.9 percent) and Indians/Asians (at 48.7 percent) than amongst colored (at 18.2 percent) and Black Africans (at 9.7 percent).

Share of individuals who are members of medical aid schemes in South Africa from 2021 to 2022, by population group

Characteristic	2021	2022
White	77.7%	71.9%
Indian/Asian	45.1%	48.7%
Colored	19.9%	18.2%
Black African	9.3%	9.7%
South Africa	16.1%	15.8%

Loading statistic...

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Use Ask Statista Research Service

Release date

August 2023

More information

Region

South Africa

Survey time period

2021 to 2022

Supplementary notes

Note that medical aid schemes should not be confused with health insurance, as these two differ much in terms of financial coverage in South Africa. Medical aid schemes cover expenses associated with the necessary medical treatment, whereas health insurances are to ensure that when you are in need of financial coverage for medical purposes, you receive a fixed lump sum.

The source states the following: "The target population of the survey consists of all private households and residents in workers’ hostels across all nine provinces of South Africa. The survey does not cover other collective living quarters such as students’ hostels, old-age homes, hospitals, prisons and military barracks, and is therefore only representative of non-institutionalized and non-military persons or households in South Africa."

The source asked people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups, including others/unspecified. This is a common way to describe ethnic groups in South Africa.

Citation formats