This graph shows how wealth is distributed in South Africa – and how much the 1% really control
Global financial group Credit Suisse has published its latest Global Wealth Report for 2021, showing that wealth in the country is becoming increasingly more concentrated at the top – with the country’s richest 1% holding more of the money than before.
According to the group’s Wealth Databook, South Africa’s richest 1% currently hold about 41% of the country’s total wealth – estimated in 2021 at $763 billion. This is up significantly from the 35% recorded in 2019.
This elite group of around 376,000 people – based on the adult population of 37.6 million – control around $311 billion of South Africa’s total wealth. Averaged out, this is $828,000 per person (R11.8 million).
These figures are up from 2019 when the data was last recorded by Credit Suisse, where the average one-percenter was worth $750,000 at the time. Over the same period, total wealth in South Africa declined by around $35 billion.
Breaking down Credit Suisse’s data further, it’s apparent that South Africa’s wealth is highly concentrated among the super-rich. Approximately 80% of total wealth is held by 10% of the adult population – but the biggest chunk of this is held by the top 1%.
This can best be explained on a per-adult basis.
According to Credit Suisse, wealth per adult in South Africa overall amounted to roughly $20,300 (R289,300) at the end of 2020. However, wealth per adult in the top 1% averages $828,000; among the top 10%, it averages $162,000.
Looking at the balance, the remaining 90% of the population controls only 20% of the country’s wealth and has a wealth per adult figure of only $4,500. This aligns with Credit Suisse’s data which records the median wealth per adult in South Africa at $4,523.
| Group | Adult population | Wealth share | Wealth ($m) | Wealth per adult |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | ~376 000 | 40.8% | $311 304 | $827 900 |
| Top 5% | ~1 880 000 | 68.5% | $522 655 | $278 000 |
| Top 10%* | ~3 760 000 | 79.9% | $609 637 | $162 000 |
| The rest (90%) | ~33 840 000 | 20.1% | $153 363 | $4 500 |
| Total | ~37 600 000 | 100.0% | $763 000 | $20 300 |
* Top 10% figures include the top 5% and top 1% numbers
Even as wealth becomes more concentrated at the top, South Africa as a whole is getting poorer, Credit Suisse’s data shows.
Globally, the broad category of wealth that represents the middle class is the $10,000 to $100,000 range. Only 20.2% of South Africans currently fall into this category, down significantly from 32.2% in 2019.
At the same time, the number of South Africans worth less than $10,000 has increased to almost 76% of the adult population, from 65% before.
Rich South Africans are also dropping out of the global 10%, with the country recording some of the biggest losses here. Credit Suisse recorded a loss of around 113,000 South Africans who dropped out of the global 10%, with only 1.1 million individuals forming part of the global elite, from 1.2 million before.
Among the global top 1%, there are 54,000 South Africans who qualify, up from 51,000 in 2019.
Read: South Africa continues to lose thousands of millionaires
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