The average monthly salary for South Africans who were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector was just over 26,800 South African rands (comparable to roughly 1,500 U.S. dollars) in November 2023, which represented a yearly increase of tw0 percent. During the period under review, the overall growth trend was positive, with the earnings increasing by 24.4 percent from 21,500 South African rands (approximately 1,180 U.S. dollars) in November 2018.    Minimum wage and highest-paid professions    Starting in March 2023, the minimum hourly wage in the country increased to 25.42 South African rands (comparable to 1.40 U.S. dollars), which represented an increase of 9.6 percent from 23.19 South African rands (1.27 U.S. dollars) per hour in the preceding year. On the other hand, professionals in executive and change management positions were paid the highest salaries in South Africa, with an average of 74,000 U.S. dollars yearly. Individuals with jobs in retail, trade, and craft followed, receiving an average of 66,000 U.S. dollars per annum.       Highest unemployment among Black South Africans In 2022, the unemployment rate in South Africa was nearly 30 percent following an increasing trend since 2008. The rate was highest among Black South Africans reaching as high as 36.8 percent in the second quarter of 2023. Moreover, Colored South Africans followed with around 22 percent, while white South Africans had a much lower unemployment rate of over 7 percent.

Wages in South Africa decreased to 28289 ZAR/Month in the first quarter of 2025 from 28316 ZAR/Month in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset provides - South Africa Total Quarterly Wages - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In the 3 years to March 2021, black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of under £600.

About 50.4 percent of the household income of private households in the U.S. were earned by the highest quintile in 2023, which are the upper 20 percent of the workers. In contrast to that, in the same year, only 3.5 percent of the household income was earned by the lowest quintile. This relation between the quintiles is indicative of the level of income inequality in the United States. Income inequalityIncome inequality is a big topic for public discussion in the United States. About 65 percent of U.S. Americans think that the gap between the rich and the poor has gotten larger in the past ten years. This impression is backed up by U.S. census data showing that the Gini-coefficient for income distribution in the United States has been increasing constantly over the past decades for individuals and households. The Gini coefficient for individual earnings of full-time, year round workers has increased between 1990 and 2020 from 0.36 to 0.42, for example. This indicates an increase in concentration of income. In general, the Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing. Income distribution is also affected by region. The state of New York had the widest gap between rich and poor people in the United States, with a Gini coefficient of 0.51, as of 2019. In global comparison, South Africa led the ranking of the 20 countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution in 2018. South Africa had a score of 63 points, based on the Gini coefficient. On the other hand, the Gini coefficient stood at 16.6 in Azerbaijan, indicating that income is widely spread among the population and not concentrated on a few rich individuals or families. Slovenia led the ranking of the 20 countries with the greatest income distribution equality in 2018.

The United States topped the list in 2018 for the country with the highest gap between CEO and worker pay. In that year, for every U.S. dollar an average worker received, the average CEO earned 265 U.S. dollars. India, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the Netherlands rounded out the top five for countries with the highest CEO to worker pay.

The 99 percent

It is a well-known issue that wages for average workers in the United States have been stagnating. Average hourly earnings for American employees, which have been hovering just below 11 U.S. dollars, have not gone up by much over the past year. The federal minimum wage in the United States has been 2.13 U.S. dollars for tipped workers and 7.25 U.S. dollars for non-tipped workers since 2009 and would be much higher today if minimum wage was adjusted for inflation.

The one percent

The gap between normal workers and CEOs is particularly high in the U.S. The richest CEO in 2018 was Elon Musk, with an annual compensation of about 2.84 billion U.S. dollars. America is also home to the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, who is the head of Amazon.com.