{"id":792205,"date":"2024-09-25T09:10:23","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T07:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=792205"},"modified":"2024-09-25T09:10:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T07:10:27","slug":"how-much-south-africas-richest-10-owns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/792205\/how-much-south-africas-richest-10-owns\/","title":{"rendered":"How much South Africa’s richest 10% owns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Net financial assets per capita in South Africa have risen to EUR 9,770 (R189,000), but the distribution is heavily imbalanced, with the richest 10% controlling 85% of the country’s total wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s financial assets are showing strong growth, but unequal distribution remains the nation’s Achille’s heel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to Allianz’s latest edition of its Global Wealth Report, which looks at the assets and debt situations of nearly 60 countries under the microscope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allianz said that 2023 was marked by sharp monetary tightening, but many economies provided resilience, and some markets even boomed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global financial assets of private households also recorded strong growth, increasing 7.6% following a loss of 3.5% the year prior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total financial assets grew to EUR 239 trillion at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial assets in South Africa increased by 8.3% in 2023, showing a strong recovery after a dismal year in 2022 (+0.1%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main drivers were insurance\/pensions (9.5%), the dominant asset call in South African households, with a share of 49%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two other asset classes, bank deposits and securities, also grew 7.5% and 7.0% over the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial assets only increased by 2.2% in 2023 when adjusted for inflation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, compared to the pre-pandemic level of 2019, the purchasing power of financial assets was 12.3% higher at the end of 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This sharply contrasts many European economies where savers suffered four lost years in real terms,” said Allianz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In line with the global trend, growth in liabilities slowed to 5.6% in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the debt ratio remained at 41%, which is on par with the pre-pandemic level and 8% below the record in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net financial assets finally also advanced by a robust 8.9%. With net financial assets per capita of EUR 9,770 (R189,000), South Africa climbed one place to 38th place in Allianz’s rankings:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Allianz Global Wealth Report<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Notably, Allianz said that while growth in financial assets is solid, distribution remains South Africa’s Achilles heel. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In fact, it is one of the countries with the most unequal distribution of wealth, with the richest 10% of the population owning 85% of total net financial assets<\/strong>,” said Allianz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Moreover, the situation has hardly improved over the last two decades.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s inequality is widely recognized as being the worst in the world, with the disparity between the top and bottom earners widening since the end of apartheid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imraan Valodia, the Director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits, said that the top 0.01% of people \u2013 just 3,500 individuals \u2013 own about 15% of the wealth in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has the highest Gini coefficient in the world. The Gini coefficient is a statistical measure that gauges how income is distributed across populations. It takes values between 0 and 1, with 0 indicating perfect equality, while a coefficient of 1 indicates perfect inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s Gini Coefficient is the highest in the world, standing at 0.67 in 2023 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the World Bank\u2019s Gini Index, the Slovak Republic is the most equal society globally, with a score of 0.29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is on the other end of the scale, with a Gini Coefficient of 0.67.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valodia said a significant driver of inequality is that many South Africans are unemployed or report meagre incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stats SA\u2019s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey showed South Africa\u2019s unemployment rate has jumped to 33.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valodia also said that incomes at the top end of the income distribution are very high. Data show that the wealthiest 10% of households are responsible for 52% of all expenditures. Conversely, the poorest 10% of households contribute only 0.8% of all expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from JustShare also highlights the income inequality in major JSE-listed companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average CEO in the retail and wholesale sector, the country’s second-largest employer, earns 597 more than their lowest-earning employee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, Woolworths CEO Roy Bagattini earned R122 million for the 2023 financial year\u2014 over 1,300 times more than the R93,600 internal minimum pay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CEO vs worker pay in South Africa – Woolworths, Shoprite, Mr Price and more<\/a><\/blockquote>