JOHANNESBURG — White South Africans earn six times more than black South Africans nearly two decades after the end of apartheid and much remains to be done to reduce the disparities between rich and poor, the president said after the release of the country’s census.

‘‘These figures tell us at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty, unemployment, and inequality, despite the progress that we have made since 1994,’’ President Jacob Zuma said of the South Africa Census 2011 released on Tuesday.