Statistics for the attorneys’ profession
About the attorneys’ profession
There are currently some 29 981 practising attorneys and 5 483 candidate attorneys in South Africa. Attorneys are officers of the court and are registered on the roll of attorneys at the Legal Practice Council.
An overview of the attorneys’ profession
(As at January 2022)
| Total attorneys | 29 981 | |
| White attorneys | 15 779 | 53% |
| Black attorneys (includes African, coloured and Indian) | 14 202 | 47% |
| White male attorneys | 9 129 | 31% |
| Black male attorneys | 8 138 | 27% |
| White female attorneys | 6 650 | 22% |
| Black female attorneys | 6 064 | 20% |
| Total female attorneys | 12 714 | 42% |
| Total candidate attorneys | 5 483 | |
| Eastern Cape | 339 | 6% |
| Free State | 282 | 5% |
| Gauteng | 2 623 | 48% |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 869 | 16% |
| Limpopo | 288 | 5% |
| Mpumalanga | 176 | 3% |
| Northern Cape | 54 | 1% |
| North West | 165 | 3% |
| Western Cape | 687 | 13% |
| Total firms | 15 595 | |
| Sole practitioners | 13 149 | |
| 2 to 9 attorneys | 2 351 | |
| 10 to 19 attorneys | 69 | |
| 20 to 49 attorneys | 14 | |
| More than 50 attorneys | 12 |
The above data is supplied by the statutory, provincial law societies.
