Poverty & Inequality in South Africa 100 indicators covering poverty & inequality for South Africa. IndicatorLatest Year10-yr change Rank Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys 2025 down 66.7% 103rd Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person 2025 down 70.8% 137th Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP 2025 down 72.9% 137th Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 2.22 live births per woman 2023 down 8.7% 99th Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,562 kg per hectare 2024 down 6.9% 51st Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP 2024 down 11.5% 139th Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -20.01 % change on previous year 2024 down 194.4% 175th Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 28.13 2022 up 11.6% 48th Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 28.1% 2022 up 11.6% 48th Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP 2022 up 18.9% 145th Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate 0.8444 % change on previous year 2022 down 63.6% 108th Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 % change on previous year 2025 up 100.0% 1st Gender Inequality Index 0.388 2023 down 9.3% 76th Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 17.8% 2023 down 2.0% 112th Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.1656 2023 down 16.8% 33rd Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient by sex 0.1656 2023 down 16.8% 33rd Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in men 0.192 2023 down 9.5% 34th Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 26th Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) 5.1% 2022 down 46.9% 26th Poverty headcount ratio at $4.20 a day (2021 PPP) 30.2% 2022 down 26.7% 26th Poverty headcount ratio at $8.30 a day (2021 PPP) 59.6% 2022 down 8.4% 33rd Prosperity gap 5.7 average shortfall from a prosperity standard of $28/day 2022 down 23.0% 30th Income inequality: Atkinson index 0.5993 2023 down 0.1% 3rd Poverty gap at $4.20 a day (2021 PPP) 10.5% 2022 down 37.9% 26th Poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line 33.8% 2022 down 12.7% 21st Poverty gap at $8.30 a day (2021 PPP) 28.4% 2022 down 20.7% 29th Population living in slums 24.2% 2022 down 4.4% 75th Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index 0.476 2023 up 5.5% 116th Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index vs. Human Development Index 0.476 2023 up 5.5% 116th Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index vs. GDP per capita 0.476 2023 up 5.5% 116th Proportion of population below international poverty line 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 29th Three metrics of inequality 74.65 2014 up 10.5% 3rd Gini coefficient (before tax) 0.7465 2014 up 10.5% 3rd Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) per capita in US$ 35.91 2023 down 20.5% 140th Income share held by second 20% 6.9% 2022 up 32.7% 122nd Income share held by third 20% 10.8% 2022 up 24.1% 122nd Income share held by fourth 20% 19.1% 2022 up 13.0% 121st Income share held by highest 20% 59.5% 2022 down 10.5% 2nd Income share held by highest 10% 42.1% 2022 down 12.7% 3rd Income share held by lowest 10% 1.4% 2022 up 40.0% 115th Income share held by lowest 20% 3.7% 2022 up 37.0% 119th Gini index 54.1 2022 down 11.2% 3rd Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income 20.4% 2022 down 10.1% 10th Total shortfall from extreme poverty 3.52 billion international-$ in 2021 prices 2022 down 36.1% 15th Poverty gap index at $3 a day 5.1% 2022 down 47.0% 24th Official development assistance grants for poverty reduction, by 0.0141 2024 up 23.0% 124th Gini coefficient: World Inequality Database vs. World Bank 0.6562 2014 up 10.4% 3rd Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax 0.6562 2014 up 10.4% 3rd Share of gross national income from poverty reduction grants 0.0% 2024 unchanged 117th Use of interpolation and extrapolation on original Gini coefficient data 12,189 2017 up 29.8% 78th Income share of the richest 10% vs. Gini coefficient (before tax) 65.4% 2014 up 10.8% 2nd Income share of the richest 1% vs. Gini coefficient (before tax) 19.3% 2014 up 5.3% 24th Proportion of total government spending on essential services, social 13.0% 2024 up 24.7% 87th Share of population living in extreme poverty vs. GDP per capita 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 26th Income inequality vs. GDP per capita 0.5405 2022 down 11.2% 3rd Total population living in extreme poverty by world region 11.00 million people 2022 down 24.5% 16th Share of population living with less than $3 and $4.20 per day 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 26th How does extreme monetary poverty compare to multidimensional poverty? 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 26th Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index 17.4% 2022 down 37.4% 26th Distribution of population between different poverty lines 21.40 million people 2022 up 37.6% 29th Page 1 of 2 Next →