Godongwana added that over 32,000 people in South Africa have changed their residence between 2017 and 2021, with over 1,000 earning in excess of R1 million per year.<\/p>\n
One of the most popular destinations for South African emigrants is the UK, with thousands moving to the nation each year to work or study.<\/p>\n
Considering the popularity of the UK for South African emigrants, BusinessTech decided to compare the average salary across various industries in both countries.<\/p>\n
We looked at the most recent data from South Africa’s Quarterly Employment Survey<\/a> and the UK’s Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings<\/a>.\u00a0 It should be noted that sectors may slightly differ across South Africa and the UK.<\/p>\n For instance, the Public Administration sector in the UK was compared to Community, Social and Personal Services sector in South Africa.<\/p>\n However, if there was no clear distinction between countries, such as the UK’s fourth largest sector, Information and Communication, the sector was omitted from the list.<\/p>\n Looking at the data, the average yearly salary in the UK is far higher than it is in South Africa.<\/p>\n *Converted from quarterly to yearly Not as bad as it seems\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It should be noted that the rand has recently hit an all-time low – well above R24\/\u00a3. This follows continued load shedding and possible fallout between South Africa and the West regarding allegations that South Africa supplied weapons to Russia.<\/p>\n Moreover, although jobs in the UK offer more income, things cost far more in the UK than in South Africa.<\/p>\n The best way to see this is to use the Big Mac Index, which measures the real value of currencies via two methods – a direct measure of purchasing-power-parity (PPP) and an adjusted index that account for local GDP data.<\/p>\n In January, when the index was published, a Big Mac in South Africa cost R49.90 in South Africa and $5.36 in the US – the implied exchange rate is R9.31.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n However, the difference between this and the exchange rate at the time, R17.21, suggests that the rand is 45.9% undervalued, the 11th most undervalued currency in the index.<\/p>\n The British Pound, however, was far less undervalued.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the UK, a Big Mac costs \u00a33.79, with an implied exchange rate of 0.71. <\/span><\/p>\n However, the difference between that number and the actual exchange rate, 0.81, hints that the Pound is 12.9% undervalued against the US dollar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n
\n Industry<\/th>\n UK Annual Earnings (GBP)<\/th>\n UK Annual Earnings (ZAR)<\/th>\n SA Annual* Earnings<\/th>\n Difference<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Electricity, gas supply<\/td>\n \u00a345 770<\/td>\n R1 114 060<\/td>\n \u00a0R721 604**<\/td>\n R392 456<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Financial and Insurance Activities<\/td>\n \u00a343 710<\/td>\n R1 063 919<\/td>\n R386 976<\/td>\n R676\u00a0943<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mining and quarrying<\/td>\n \u00a343 091<\/td>\n R 1 048 852<\/td>\n R384\u00a0064<\/td>\n R664 778<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Construction<\/td>\n \u00a336 259<\/td>\n R 882 177<\/td>\n R 286\u00a0808<\/td>\n R595\u00a0309<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Public administration<\/td>\n \u00a335 829<\/td>\n R871 716<\/td>\n R409 704<\/td>\n R462\u00a0012<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Transport and storage<\/td>\n \u00a334 028<\/td>\n R827 898<\/td>\n R382\u00a0252<\/td>\n R445 646<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Water Supply<\/td>\n \u00a334 010<\/td>\n R824 759<\/td>\n \u00a0R721 604**<\/td>\n R103 155<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Manufacturing<\/td>\n \u00a332 770<\/td>\n R794 688<\/td>\n R312\u00a0716<\/td>\n R481 952<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n
\n**Same salary is given in QES data<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Rand-raw-index-2023.png\")
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