How South Africans get online, how they search, how many small businesses there are, how many of them use a website, and what a website costs. We opened every source ourselves. Each figure has its source linked beside it and the year it describes, so you can check it and quote the original.
79.5%
of people in South Africa used the internet in October 2026.
77.39%
of web page views in South Africa came from mobile phones in October 2026.
32%
of South Africa's micro, small and medium businesses, informal ones included, used a website in 2024.
82%
of online adults said they had used Google Maps in the last month to find a local business.
52.2 million
people in South Africa used the internet in October 2026: 79.5% of the population.
What it means: about four in five people are online.
Source: DataReportal, Digital 2027: South Africa, published 5 November 2026. Figure for October 2026. Link to this figure
13.4 million
people in South Africa did not use the internet in late 2026: 20.5% of the population.
What it means: one person in five can't find you online at all, so word of mouth still counts.
Source: DataReportal, Digital 2027: South Africa, published 5 November 2026. Figure for late 2026. Link to this figure
78.4%
of people in South Africa used the internet in 2024, in the ITU's estimate published by the World Bank.
What it means: the international series gives a similar figure to DataReportal, which draws partly on the same ITU data.
Source: World Bank, Individuals using the Internet (% of population), South Africa, from ITU data; updated 11 November 2026. Figure for 2024, rounded to one decimal place. Link to this figure
34.8 million
social media user identities in South Africa in October 2026, equal to 53.0% of the population.
What it means: about half the country is reachable on social media. These are accounts, not people: DataReportal notes they may not all be unique individuals.
Source: DataReportal, Digital 2027: South Africa, published 5 November 2026. Figure for October 2026. Link to this figure
82.1%
of households had internet access through any means in 2024, up from 28.0% in 2010.
What it means: in most homes, someone can look you up.
Source: Stats SA, General Household Survey 2024, in the release of 27 May 2025. Figure for 2024. Link to this figure
17.4%
of households had a fixed internet connection at home in 2024. 75.6% had mobile internet access.
What it means: most homes get online through a phone network, so a website has to work on a phone first.
Source: Stats SA, General Household Survey 2024, as published in ICASA's State of the ICT Sector Report, March 2026 (page 16). Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
96.1%
of households owned at least one mobile phone in 2024. Only 3.4% used a landline.
What it means: nearly every household has at least one cellphone, so make your number easy to tap and call.
Source: Stats SA, General Household Survey 2024, in the release of 27 May 2025. Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
Web page views in South Africa by device
Share of page views, October 2026
of web page views in South Africa came from mobile phones in October 2026. Desktop had 21.93% and tablet 0.68%.
What it means: about three page views in four are on a phone. Check your own website on one before anything else.
Source: Statcounter Global Stats. Figures for October 2026. Link to this figure
83,041,957
smartphone subscriptions on 30 September 2025, out of 117,316,338 mobile cellular subscriptions.
What it means: these count subscriptions, not people, but most mobile subscriptions are now on smartphones.
Source: ICASA, The State of the ICT Sector Report of South Africa, March 2026 (page 44). Figures as at 30 September 2025. Link to this figure
99.5%
of the population was covered by 4G/LTE in 2025, and 58.0% by 5G.
What it means: almost everyone is in range of a network fast enough for a modern website. ICASA notes that 5G lags in rural areas.
Source: ICASA, The State of the ICT Sector Report of South Africa, March 2026 (page 6). Figures for 2025. Link to this figure
69.57 Mbps
was the median mobile download speed in South Africa in late 2026, against 50.36 Mbps on fixed connections.
What it means: the typical mobile connection is faster than the typical fixed one.
Source: Ookla's figures, published in DataReportal, Digital 2027: South Africa, 5 November 2026. Figures for late 2026. Link to this figure
of search engine market share in South Africa went to Google in October 2026. Bing had 6.28%.
What it means: almost all page views that reach websites from a search engine come from Google, with Bing a distant second.
Source: Statcounter Global Stats, search engine market share in South Africa. Figures for October 2026. Statcounter measures page views referred by search engines, not the number of searches. Link to this figure
82%
of online adults said they had used Google Maps in the last month to find a local business.
What it means: local customers look for you on a map, so your address, hours and phone number need to be right wherever they appear.
Source: Public First, The Digital Opportunity of South Africa, an independent report commissioned by Google (2024), from online polling of 979 online adults. The report doesn't give the polling dates, and says Google did not supply additional data or endorse its estimates. Link to this figure
86%
of online adults said they had used Google Search or Shopping in the last month to compare the prices of products or services.
What it means: most online adults use Google to compare prices.
Source: Public First, The Digital Opportunity of South Africa, commissioned by Google (2024), from the same poll of 979 online adults. Link to this figure
20% to 30%
of their new customers come through Google Search, on average, according to the online businesses Public First polled.
What it means: for businesses already online, search is a real source of new customers.
Source: Public First, The Digital Opportunity of South Africa, commissioned by Google (2024), from a poll of 265 senior leaders of small, medium and large online businesses, not all businesses. Link to this figure
The count we use is FinMark Trust's FinScope MSME Survey 2024: 4,027 face-to-face interviews with business owners aged 16 or older, in 300 areas of the country, with a sample designed to be nationally representative. It counts micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with up to 250 employees, informal businesses included.
3,912,277
micro, small and medium enterprises in South Africa in 2024, run by 3,027,298 owners and employing 13,429,013 people (full-time, part-time and seasonal).
What it means: roughly 3.9 million small businesses, employing more than 13 million people between them.
Source: FinMark Trust, FinScope MSME Survey South Africa 2024, results launch of 10 September 2024 (slide 9). Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
84%
of MSMEs are micro-enterprises with 0 to 10 employees. 14% are small (11 to 50 employees) and 2% medium (51 to 250).
What it means: the typical South African small business has ten employees or fewer.
Source: FinMark Trust, FinScope MSME Survey South Africa 2024 (slide 12). Figures for 2024. FinScope's counts behind these shares add up to 3,027,298, the number of owners, rather than the 3,912,277 businesses above. Link to this figure
56%
of MSMEs are informal. 28% are formal (registered with CIPC and SARS) and 16% semi-formal (other registrations only).
What it means: more than half of small businesses are informal, one reason different sources count them so differently.
Source: FinMark Trust, FinScope MSME Survey South Africa 2024 (slide 17). Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
What South Africa's small businesses use
Share of MSMEs that use each one, 2024
32%
of MSMEs use a website. 90% use a cellphone, 51% internet access, 49% social media and 47% an email address.
What it means: roughly two small businesses in three don't use a website, while nine in ten use a cellphone.
Source: FinMark Trust, FinScope MSME Survey South Africa 2024 (slide 20). Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
42%
of MSMEs say customers find them through digital marketing (a website or social media). 77% say through references and recommendations, and 91% through walk-in, walk-by and private customers.
What it means: word of mouth and passing trade still lead, and online is already a way in for about four businesses in ten.
Source: FinMark Trust, FinScope MSME Survey South Africa 2024 (slide 15). Figures for 2024. Link to this figure
On the counts: the Department of Small Business Development wrote in its MSMEs and Co-operatives Funding Policy (Government Gazette 52109, 13 February 2025) that "there is a lack of reliable data on small businesses" in South Africa. Other counts use other definitions, so compare like with like.
Procompare, a marketplace that sells enquiries to web designers, publishes a price guide based on project costs its professionals report and on other published cost data. These are its 2026 once-off ranges.
Procompare's once-off website prices in South Africa, by kind of site
2026 ranges and averages, in rand
Procompare's rangeProcompare's average: R5,000 simple personal, R14,000 business, R19,000 e-commerce (none given for custom)
R7,500 to R20,000
once-off for a business website in Procompare's 2026 price guide, R14,000 on average. A simple personal website (CMS) is R3,800 to R6,300 and an e-commerce website R13,000 to R25,000.
What it means: budget for looking after the site too. The guide says the business-website price does not include annual maintenance, content creation or website marketing.
Source: Procompare, website development prices 2026, based on project costs its professionals report and on cost data from publications, government reports and trade associations. Procompare sells enquiries to web designers. Link to this figure
Our own prices, not a market figure
R490 to R4,990 a month
is what Position Xero's four website packages cost in November 2026: R490, R990, R1,490 or R4,990 a month, with the website built free, and hosting and a set amount of changes each month included.
Why it's here: so you can set a monthly model next to the once-off quotes above. These are our prices, set by us, so treat them as one company's offer.
Source: Position Xero, website packages. Prices as at November 2026.
Figures checked November 2026. Our guide to web design prices in South Africa sets once-off builds and monthly packages side by side over three years.
We collected these figures on 14 November 2026. We opened every source ourselves, and each figure was checked against its source a second time before this page went live. Figures appear as the source prints them, except the World Bank's, which we rounded to one decimal place. Where a source is a survey, we say who it asked. Where a source sells something related, or was paid for by a company that does, we say that too.
The sources measure different things, so read each figure on its own terms. DataReportal and the World Bank count people (DataReportal's social media figure counts user identities). Stats SA counts households. ICASA's subscription figures count SIM cards, not people. Statcounter counts page views on the websites that use its tracking code, and its pages show the latest month by default: the figures here are its October 2026 ones. Public First polled online adults and online businesses only. FinScope counts businesses with up to 250 employees, including informal ones.
Some figures we looked for and couldn't find from a source we'd stand behind, so they aren't here: how many South African businesses have a Google Business Profile, how fast "near me" searches are growing in South Africa, and a recent nationally representative figure for small businesses that sell online. If you know of a reliable one, tell us through our contact page.
We'll check the figures again as new editions come out, and change the date at the top when we do.
Position Xero (2026). Small businesses online in South Africa: statistics with sources, 2026 edition. Updated 14 November 2026. https://www.positionxero.com/south-africa-small-business-website-statistics
When you use a figure, please credit its original source, linked beside each number. A link back to this page helps other readers find the rest. Each figure has its own link: use "Link to this figure" under it.
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