Statistics for the attorneys’ profession

About the attorneys’ profession

There are currently some 33 929 practising attorneys and 6 294 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

DEMOGRAPHICS NATIONAL ATTORNEYS

	2025
Sole practitioners	14 242
Small firms 2 – 9 attorneys	4 145
10 to 19 attorneys	140
20 to 49 attorneys	46
More than 50 attorneys	21

Age:

Age Group	Totals
< 21	1
21 – 24	5
25 – 34	9 035
35 – 44	9 842
45 – 54	7 345
55 – 64	4 733
65 – 74	2 215
> 75	753
	33 929

Gender:

Age Group	Totals	Male	Female
< 21	1	1	0
21 – 24	5	2	3
25 – 34	9 035	3 654	5 381
35 – 44	9 842	4 703	5 139
45 – 54	7 345	4 284	3 061
55 – 64	4 733	3 374	1 359
65 – 74	2 215	1 846	369
> 75	753	711	42
	33 292	18 575	15 354

Race:

Age Group	Totals	Black	Coloured	Indian	White	Other
< 21	1	0	0	0	0	1
21 – 24	5	4	0	1	0	0
25 – 34	9 035	4 415	605	927	2 993	95
35 – 44	9 842	4 124	550	924	4 018	226
45 – 54	7 345	2 671	422	699	3 410	143
55 – 64	4 733	1 027	211	413	3 020	62
65 – 74	2 215	279	59	193	1 664	20
> 75	753	51	7	48	637	10
	33 292	12 571	1 854	3 205	15 742	557

Gender and race:

Age Group	Totals	Black Male	Black Female	Coloured Male	Coloured Female	Indian Male	Indian Female	White Male	White Female	Other Male	Other Female
< 21	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
21 – 24	5	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
25 – 34	9 035	1 955	2 460	202	403	286	641	1 172	1 821	39	56
35 – 44	9 842	2 369	1 755	211	339	322	602	1 704	2 314	97	129
45 – 54	7 345	1 956	715	222	200	265	434	1 756	1 654	85	58
55 – 64	4 733	833	194	161	50	244	169	2 091	929	45	17
65 – 74	2 215	237	42	45	14		53	1 406	258	18	2
> 75	753	47	4	7	0	41	7	607	30	9	1
	33 929	7 399	5 172	848	1 006	1 298	1 907	8 736	7 006	294	263

Demographics National Candidate Attorneys

Age:

Age Group	Totals
< 21	3
21 – 24	599
25 – 34	4 559
35 – 44	610
45 – 54	235
55 – 64	78
65 – 74	14
> 75	196
	6 294

Gender:

Age Group	Totals	Male	Female
< 21	3	2	1
21 – 24	599	180	419
25 – 34	4 559	1 767	2 792
35 – 44	610	278	331
45 – 54	235	134	101
55 – 64	78	55	23
65 – 74	14	12	2
> 75	196	59	137
	6 294	2 487	3 807

Race:

Age Group	Totals	Black	Coloured	Indian	White	Other
< 21	3	2	0	0	1	0
21 – 24	599	362	36	52	147	2
25 – 34	4 559	3 076	311	335	793	44
35 – 44	610	474	34	34	62	6
45 – 54	235	178	11	14	27	5
55 – 64	78	62	5	4	6	1
65 – 74	14	11	0	0	3	0
> 75	196	100	22	44	30	0
	6 294	4 265	419	483	1 069	58

Gender And Race:

Age Group	Totals	Black Male	Black Female	Coloured Male	Coloured Female	Indian Male	Indian Female	White Male	White Female	Other Male	Other Female
< 21	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
21 – 24	599	113	249	9	27	14	38	43	104	1	1
25 – 34	4 559	1 252	1 824	102	209	102	233	298	495	13	31
35 – 44	610	236	238	10	24	9	25	18	44	5	1
45 – 54	235	118	60	5	6	3	11	8	19	0	5
55 – 64	78	45	17	2	3	3	1	4	2	1	0
65 – 74	14	9	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
> 75	196	34	66	5	17	11	33	9	21	0	0
	6 294	1 809	2 456	133	286	142	341	383	686	20	38

View the LSSA LEAD statistics on the profession, July 2018