Today’s plot by Tristan Hoyle shows that the correlation between night time light and population differs across provinces in South Africa. Gauteng experienced a decline in night light between 2012 and 2024 despite its
increase in its population. In the Western Cape, night lights have been largely flat despite a strongly increase in its population. The strongest increase in night light was in Limpopo province, which has experienced a significant increase in informal settlement formation. As we show in our recent Codera Policy Brief, satellite data sheds light on the implications of the collapse of state service delivery and South Africa’s decline in GDP per capita over the last decade.
