17 jobs in South Africa where salaries have more than doubled
While South Africa is expected to avoid another technical recession in the second quarter of 2024, consumers have been in recession for some time.
Salary growth in South Africa has not kept up with inflation over the past few years, leading to a decline in consumer spending and poorer households on a per capita basis.
Compounding this issue is the country’s astronomically high unemployment rate, where more than a third of the working population can’t get a job – and close to half when considering the broader definition of unemployment, where discouraged work-seekers and those who have simply given up are included.
The story of South Africa’s anaemic salary growth is also apparent in official data.
Over the last ten years, the average non-agricultural formal salary in South Africa has grown from R14,731 (Q3, 2014) to R26,791 (Q3 2024), an increase of 81.9%.
Inflation over the same period was around 62.3% – meaning the average salary has grown at rate higher than inflation—19.6% in real terms.
While the average salary over the last decade has increased, it does not tell the whole story.
The average salary reflects varying increases across all formal sectors—including government and public services, where salary hikes in the past have been notorious for being higher than inflation.
Headline inflation over the past ten years also does not reflect the huge increases seen in specific sectors: such as the 131% surge in car prices, or the insane electricity price hikes seen over the years.
Jobs that have seen the most growth
Breaking down the data from Stats SA’s Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) for Q3 2014 and Q3 2024, it is apparent that not all job sectors are equal when it comes to matching inflation.
Across 88 like-for-like job categories over the ten-year period, 56 have seen salary increases greater than inflation (over 62.3%) – but the remaining 32 have all come under.
This means these jobs have seen negative growth in real terms in the last ten years.
At the bottom of the pile are those working in in ship and boat repair and manufacturing of coke oven products, petroleum refineries and the processing of nuclear fuel.
Salaries in these sectors show only 20% growth since 2014. However, they also show two sides of the same picture. The former has low average earnings—R15,911, well below the national average—while the latter is one of the highest-earners on average.
The low-growth jobs are generally found in the manufacturing sector, with some business services thrown in, but again, some of these are off a very high base.
Workers in financial intermediation, for example, would have only seen a salary increase of around 40% over the last ten years, but this sector was by far the highest-paid in the latest QES report, pulling in an average of R90,650 a month.
By comparison, some of the biggest salary hikes in the last ten years have come off a much lower base—such as those working in sawmilling and planing of wood. Average earnings here have jumped 142% from R4,597 in 2014 to R11,117 in 2024.
However, this was still the second-lowest average earnings in the Q3 2024 QES.
The biggest jump in average earnings should come as no surprise to anyone who has been living with load shedding in South Africa over the past decade – the manufacturing of motors, generators and transformers have seen earnings jump by 151%.
Another caveat to the data is that this represents the average earnings over a quarter (three months of the year), and many positions and pay are seasonal. However, this has been mitigated by comparing the same quarters in 2014 and 2024.
Overall there were 17 jobs that have seen significant salary jumps over the period, increasing by 100% or more. These are:
- Electronic motor, generator and transformer manufacturing (+151%)
- Transport equipment manufacturing (+144%)
- Sawmilling and planing of wood (+142%)
- Health and social work (141%)
- Recycling (+126%)
- NGO activities (+121%)
- Non-gold mining (+115%)
- Financial intermediation (+111%)
- Business activities (+108%)
- Other NGO services (+107%)
- Sean and coastal water transport (+106%)
- Motor vehicle manufacturing (+103%)
- Gold mining (+102%)
- Household appliance manufacturing (+102%)
- Optical instrument (cameras, watches, clocks) manufacturing (+102%)
- Production of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, oils and fats (+101%)
- Manufacturing of TV and radio receivers, sound or video recording (+100%)
The 10 jobs that have seen the smallest average salary jump are:
- Building and repairing of ships and boats (+20%)
- Coke oven, petroleum and nuclear fuel processing (+20%)
- Electrical equipment manufacturing (+35%)
- Beverages and tobacco products manufacturing (+36%)
- Insulated wire and cable manufacturing (+37%)
- Electronic valves and other electric component manufacturing (+38%)
- Grain mill and related manufacturing (+38%)
- Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation (+40%)
- Electricity distribution and control apparatus manufacturing (+40%)
- Business research and development (+40%)
The 10-year salary growth of all 88 jobs is outlined in the table below.
Read: The cars you can afford with your salary in South Africa in 2024
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