{"id":771399,"date":"2024-05-10T11:29:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T09:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=771399"},"modified":"2024-05-10T11:30:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T09:30:09","slug":"salaries-in-south-africa-half-of-all-workers-earn-less-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wealth\/771399\/salaries-in-south-africa-half-of-all-workers-earn-less-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Salaries in South Africa – half of all workers earn less than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stats SA has published new data on median salaries in South Africa<\/strong><\/a>, revealing huge differences between earnings across the country – and that most workers earn far less than the average of R25,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The median salary in South Africa was recorded at only R5,417 a month in 2022<\/strong>. The average salary at the time was R24,813 a month (December 2022<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A median records the middle point in a sorted list of numbers\u2014effectively showing the mid-point of all salaries\u2014while the average represents the total value divided among the set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the average represents an equal distribution among all salaried workers, the median presented by Stats SA shows about half of 13 million workers in South Africa earn below R5,400 a month<\/strong>, meaning most of the earnings are concentrated at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, top 5% earnings carry a higher median of R35,000 – compared to the bottom 5% where it is only a paltry R1,000 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stats SA’s data shows that this yawning gap in earnings is prevalent across various factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Median salary by sex<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across sexes, the median for male workers is R6,000 a month, while for women it is R4,800 – giving a pay gap of 25% (or women only earn 80% of what men earn).+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Median salary by race<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of racial distribution, the median salary among white workers is R21,000, versus the lowest median of R4,700 among black South Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Median salary by industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shifts in median pay also hinge on the skill level and the industry in which South Africans work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility industry pays the highest median salary (~R16,000 a month), followed by mining (~R14,000). On the opposite end, private households (~R2,000) and agriculture (~R4,000) pay the lowest median.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Median salary by skill level<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As would be expected, skilled workers earn higher median salaries (R21,000) compared to semi-skilled (R5,500) and low-skilled (R3,300) workers. Professionals earn the highest (R24,000), while domestic workers (R2,350) earn the lowest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Median salary by work hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those in full-time employment (35 hours+ a week) also have a much higher earning median (R6,000) than those working fewer than 35 hours a week (R1,950).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Median salary by province<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disparities are also evident on geographical lines, where workers in Gauteng have a higher median (R7,500 per month) than any other province. Limpopo has the lowest median (R4,200) a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Stats SA, Gauteng is the only province to consistently record median monthly earnings above the national average over the review period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data tracked by Stats SA covered 2017 to 2022, using information from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read: Good news for salary hikes in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stats SA has published new data tracking median salaries in South Africa – revealing the top earners based on sex, race, industry and location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":702685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9880],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-771399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wealth","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":771410,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771399\/revisions\/771410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}