Average SA income in real terms falling

AFTER taking inflation into account, the average South African earned 1.5% less in December than in the same month in 2015.

December’s average monthly pay after taxes and other deductions was R14 102 and the median was R10 397, according to the BankservAfrica Disposable Salary Index (BDSI) released yesterday.

Ignoring inflation, South Africans on average received 5.1% more in December than the same month the previous year.

But adjusted for inflation, December’s average pay came to R11 309 – 1.5% lower than the R11 484 in December 2015.

“Real salary adjustments in December reflected the longest – and fastest – decline since the index started in 2011. Furthermore, this is the seventh consecutive month that salaries have fallen year on year in real terms,” BankservAfrica information services head Caroline Belrose said.

“Employees in the South African formal sector have certainly not had anything to cheer about in 2016 – the weak rand and drought had a devastating impact on real incomes and expenses of employees and their families,” Economists.co.za chief economist Mike Schüssler said.

There was a silver lining in that there was a slight increase in the number of employees on the interbank payment system. This was 0.7% higher than in December 2015.

Like salaries, private pensions showed real-term declines year on year.

The BankservAfrica Private Pensions Index of pensions paid into South African bank accounts showed a 1.7% year-on-year decline in real terms. – BDLive