Sampling Procedure
The General Household Survey (GHS) 2025 used the 2013 Master Sample. This master sample is shared by the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), General Household Survey (GHS), Living Conditions Survey (LCS), Domestic Tourism Survey (DTS), and the Income and Expenditure Survey (IES). This survey followed a two-stage stratified sampling approach. In the first stage, primary sampling units (PSUs) based on Census 2001 Enumeration Areas were selected using probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) within metropolitan and non-metropolitan strata. In the second stage, dwelling units (DUs) were systematically selected within each sampled PSU. The design was self-weighting at the provincial level and incorporated secondary stratification using key demographic and socioeconomic variables, including household size, education, gender, industry, and income. To improve efficiency, very small enumeration areas were excluded or merged, while large areas were split. In total, about 3,080 PSUs were selected nationally, producing a representative sample of South African households.
For further details, refer to the GHS-2025 metadata documentation.
Weighting
The sample weights were constructed to account for the following: the original selection probabilities (design weights), adjustments for PSUs that were sub-sampled or segmented, excluded population from the sampling frame, non-response, weight trimming, and benchmarking to known population estimates from the Demographic Analysis Division within Stats SA.
The sampling weights for the data collected from the sampled households were constructed so that the responses could be properly expanded to represent the entire civilian population of South Africa. The design weights, which are the inverse sampling rate (ISR) for the province, are assigned to each of the households in a province.
Mid-year population estimates produced by the Demographic Analysis Division were used for benchmarking. The final survey weights were constructed using regression estimation to calibrate to national-level population estimates cross-classified by 5-year age groups, gender and race, and provincial population estimates by broad age groups. The 5-year age groups are: 0–4; 5–9; 10–14; 55–59; 60–64; and 65 and older. The provincial level age groups include 0–14, 15–34, 35–64, and 65 years and older. The calibrated weights were constructed such that all persons in a household would have the same final weight.
Note: Caution must be exercised when interpreting the results of the GHS at low levels of disaggregation. The sample and reporting are based on the provincial boundaries as defined in December/January 2006. These new boundaries resulted in minor changes to the boundaries of some provinces, especially Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Eastern and Western Cape. In previous reports, the sample was based on the provincial boundaries as defined in 2001, and there will therefore be slight comparative differences in terms of provincial boundary definitions.
