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CRD

Recorded Live Births 1998-2024

South Africa, 1998 - 2024
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Reference ID
zaf-statssa-rlb-1998-2024-v1
Producer(s)
Statistics South Africa
Collections
Civil Registration Data
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Jan 26, 2026
Last modified
May 27, 2026
Page views
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Downloads
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  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Study authorization
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • Access policy
  • Depositor information
  • Distributor information
  • access_policy
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production

    • Identification

    Survey ID number
    zaf-statssa-rlb-1998-2024-v1
    Title
    Recorded Live Births 1998-2024
    Abbreviation or Acronym
    RLB 1998-2024
    Country
    Name Country code
    South Africa zaf
    Study type
    Recorded Live Births
    Abstract
    The Recorded Live Births (RLB) dataset provides information on all registered live births in South Africa. The RLB dataset is part of a regular series of cumulative releases that Statistics South Africa, Stats SA, publishes and is based on data collected through the civil registration system. RLB 1998-2024 is the latest release in the series, which replaces and includes the data of the previous release (i.e. RLB 1998-2024 includes the data from RLB 1998-2023). The main objective of this dataset is to outline emerging trends and differentials in birth occurrence and registration, by selected socio-demographic and geographic characteristics in South Africa over time. Reliable birth statistics are necessary for population health assessment, health policy, service planning and programme evaluation. These data are particularly critical for planning, implementing and monitoring development policies and programmes such as the National Development Plan, NDP, in South Africa, Agenda 2063 at the regional level and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the international level.
    Kind of Data
    Administrative records data [adm]
    Unit of Analysis
    Individuals

    Version

    Version Description
    v1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
    Version Date
    2026-01
    Version Notes
    Version 1 of this dataset was downloaded from Statistics SA's Isibalo site on December 30, 2025

    Scope

    Notes

    Birth registration in South Africa is governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992, as amended) and administered by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). Upon registration, the DHA issues a birth certificate and updates the national population register. Once the data has been captured, it is transferred to the mainframe, where it is downloaded and the birth transactions are extracted for processing by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

    Topics
    Topic
    Live births

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage
    This dataset has national coverage.
    Geographic Coverage notes
    The distribution of births by DCs, metros and provinces are approximate figure as there was no perfect match of magisterial districts for all DCs, metros and provinces, since some magisterial districts are situated in more than one DC, metro or province. Such magisterial districts were allocated to the district council where the majority of the land area falls.
    Geographic Unit
    The lowest level of geographic aggregation covered by the data is magisterial district using the 2016 municipal demarcations.
    Universe
    The target population is all births recorded on the Birth Register for the years 1998 to 2024. All births that occurred in South Africa, but where the parents were non-South African citizens or not permanent residents, have been excluded.

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Statistics South Africa Government of South Africa
    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    Department of Home Affairs Government of South Africa Data capturing.

    Study authorization

    Authorization Date
    1992
    Authorization Statement
    Registration of births in South Africa is governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992), which is implemented by the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires
    The DHA uses two forms to record live births: Form DHA-24, Notice of Birth, to register births for persons aged 30 days and below; and Form DHA-24/LRB is used to register births for persons aged 31 days and older (along with other forms).

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    1998 2024
    Time periods
    Start date End date
    1998 2024
    Data Collectors
    Name Affiliation Abbreviation Role
    Department of Home Affairs Government of South Africa DHA Data capturing
    Statistics South Africa Government of South Africa StatsSA Dataset preparation

    Access policy

    Location of Data Collection
    DataFirst data repository
    URL for Location of Data Collection
    Archive where study is originally stored
    Statistics South Africa's Isibalo site

    Depositor information

    Depositor
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation URL
    Statistics South Africa StatsSA Government of South Africa
    Date of Deposit
    2025

    Distributor information

    Distributor
    Organization name Affiliation URL
    DataFirst University of Cape Town
    Date of Distribution
    2026

    access_policy

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    DataFirst University of Cape Town support@data1st.org
    Access conditions
    Use is under a Creative Commons BY attribution only license
    Citation requirements
    Statistics South Africa. Recorded Live Births 1998-2024 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2025. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/5JTQ-2R31
    Deposit requirements
    The data re-user agrees to send DataFirst a link to research publications that are based on the data.

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    DataFirst Helpdesk University of Cape Town support@data1st.org

    Metadata production

    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    DataFirst University of Cape Town Metadata producer

    Metadata version

    DDI Document version
    Version 1
    Version date
    2026-01-28
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