Average bonus pay in South Africa in 2015
The average take-home bonus in 2015 amounted to a fraction over R1,000 according to the BankservAfrica Disposable Salary Index (BDSI).
According to BankservAfrica, the largest automated clearing house and payments system operator in the country, the average take-home salary was R12,715 per month for the year, except in December, which is always a higher salary month due to bonuses being paid.
December’s average was R13,733.
The BDSI and BankservAfrica Private Pension Index (BPPI) showed that for both salaried individuals and pension earners, 2015 ‘was a relatively good year’. Despite the economy slowing somewhat, income from formal sources generally beat inflation.
The company said that on average the BankservAfrica banking payment system in South Africa processed 3.070 million formal salary payments and 650,000 pension accounts per month in 2015.
“We believe that these visible formal sector earnings represent over a third of employees and about 80% of pensioners for this data set,” said Dr Caroline Belrose, Head of Fraud and Data Analytics at BankservAfrica.
“Average take-home salaries increased by 6.7% in 2015, down from the 8.8% increase in 2014. Average salaries in real terms were 2% higher in 2015 than 2014. This means that salaries beat the average inflation rate of 4.6% quite comfortably, albeit at a slower pace than in 2014,” Belrose said.
Despite real personal income tax hikes and low employment growth in the formal sector, employees in this sector are still receiving salary increases after tax and deductions, the group said.
“Interestingly 2015 was the year that pensions performed best. While South African company profits are under pressure, pensioners received substantial increases that outperformed salary increases,” said Mike Schüssler, chief economist at Economists dotcoza.
Bankable pensions average only 46% of disposable salaries in 2015, with the average pension increasing by 9.1% over 2014.
In 2015 real average pensions increased by 4.3% for the year, with the average pension being R5,840, and the actual average pension in December being R6,116.
Dispelling some myths about the South African middle class losing out, the pensions of median person fared much better than the average in 2015.
For the second year in a row median bankable pensions increased by double figures, up by 10.3% in 2015 when compared to a year ago, and for the second consecutive year. This means they beat the average inflation rate by 5.4%.
The median pension paid into a bank account was R3,909 for 2015.
BankservAfrica did note that increases in pensions slowed towards the end of the year and therefore infers that 2016 may not be as positive for pension income growth, as market turmoil is likely to impact on the ability of trustees to increase pensions.
“The median salary, while still lower than the average salary, was R9,374 in 2015, 7.1% higher than in 2014,” said Belrose.
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