Real average wage in South Africa fell below the R15000 mark in March 2022

THE REAL AVERAGE South African salary fell below the R15 000 mark in March and has recorded one of the biggest annual falls on record of 5.6 percent, according to BankservAfrica. The automated payments clearing house the BankservAfrica Take Home Pay Index (BTPI) showed that while salary numbers were still looking positive in March as the total take-home pay and private pensions processed in value terms declined by 1.3 percent in real terms, but increased by 4.5 percent in nominal terms.

BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements, Shergeran Naidoo, said the average real salary was R14 969 in March, falling below the R15 000-plus mark seen in the previous months. “The real BTPI annual decline of 5.6 percent is one of the biggest annual falls on record.”

The average nominal salary was R15 121 in March, nearly R1 000 lower than the record R16 022 registered in February. In 2021 terms, the average take-home pay was R14 969. The March numbers were usually lower as the year-end bonus pay-outs fall out of the index’s smoothing.

“But the average decline hides the fact that more people are receiving salaries compared to a year ago. The end of the national State of Disaster has also resulted in more people rejoining the workforce,” the report noted.

Economists.co.za chief economist Mike Schüssler said overall, the total number of people paid via BankservAfrica was very close to reaching the 2019 levels, after already having exceeded the 2020 numbers.