# Research: Modern South African Wealth Concentration, Inheritance, and Racial Wealth Gap (2024–2026) ## Summary South Africa remains one of the most wealth-unequal countries on earth through 2025–2026, with a wealth Gini of 81 (UBS GWR 2026, end-2025 data) — third-highest globally behind only the UAE and Russia. New 2025–2026 data from UBS, Allianz, SARB, Knight Frank, New World Wealth, SARS, and the World Inequality Lab confirms persistently extreme concentration: the richest 10% own ~85% of net financial assets, the racial wealth gap remains vast (Black South Africans owned ~6% of the average wealth of White South Africans as of the most recent comprehensive analysis), and household net wealth improved in 2025 largely due to a 37.7% JSE rally rather than broad-based asset accumulation. Finance Minister Godongwana formally rejected a wealth tax proposal in May 2025. --- ### UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 - **Source:** UBS / Credit Suisse - **URL:** https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20250618-gwr-2025.html - **Published:** 2025-06-18 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The 16th edition of the UBS Global Wealth Report, analysing 56 markets representing over 92% of world wealth. South Africa experienced negative real growth in average wealth per adult in both 2023 and 2024, while global wealth grew 4.6% in 2024. SA ranked third-highest globally for wealth inequality. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2024: South Africa wealth Gini coefficient of 0.81, third-highest globally (behind Brazil 0.82 and Russia 0.82, tied with UAE 0.81) - 2024: South Africa saw negative real growth in average wealth per adult (second consecutive year of decline) - 2024: South Africa recorded approximately 2% growth in the number of US dollar millionaires --- ### UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 - **Source:** UBS Global Wealth Management - **URL:** https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealthmanagement/insights/global-wealth-report-clients/_jcr_content/root/contentarea/mainpar/gridcontrol/col_1/inner/col_2/actionbutton.0417419513.file/PS9jb250ZW50L2RhbS9hc3NldHMvd20vc3RhdGljL2d3ci9nbG9iYWwtd2VhbHRoLXJlcG9ydC1lbi0yMDI2LnBkZg%3D%3D/global-wealth-report-en-2026.pdf - **Published:** 2026-06-30 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The 17th edition of the UBS Global Wealth Report, tracking 56 economies. Global wealth expanded 10.8% in 2025 — the fastest pace since 2017. South Africa specifically "surged ahead" in 2025, helped partly by a weaker US dollar, as part of the EMEA region which grew 17.5%. However, median wealth declined in most markets even as average wealth rose, deepening inequality. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2025: South Africa wealth Gini index of 81, third-highest globally (behind UAE 82 and Russia 82, tied with Brazil 81) - 2025: South Africa surged ahead in wealth growth as part of the "Middle East and S. Africa" regional grouping (average wealth per adult ~USD 84,195 for the region), aided by US dollar depreciation - 2025: Global wealth grew 10.8% (USD); EMEA region grew 17.5%; nearly 1 million new dollar millionaires created globally --- ### Allianz Global Wealth Report 2025 - **Source:** Allianz Research - **URL:** https://bcm.nacm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Powering-ahead-Global-Wealth-Report-2025.pdf - **Published:** 2025-09-25 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The 16th edition of the Allianz Global Wealth Report, covering 57 countries. Global financial assets of private households rose 8.7% in 2024 to EUR 269 trillion, with net financial assets growing 10.3%. South Africa's net financial assets per capita rose to EUR 11,190 in 2024, up from EUR 9,770 in 2023 — a significant nominal increase, though the distribution remains among the most unequal globally. The report's theme is "No progress" on wealth distribution over 20 years. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2024: South Africa net financial assets per capita reached EUR 11,190 (up from EUR 9,770 in 2023, a ~14.5% increase) - 2024: Global net financial assets grew 10.3% to EUR 210 trillion; Allianz's overall finding is "No progress" on wealth distribution over two decades --- ### SARB Household Finances — Q4 2025 (via Nedbank Economics) - **Source:** South African Reserve Bank (Quarterly Bulletin data), summarised by Nedbank Economics - **URL:** https://group.nedbank.co.za/content/dam/group/pdf/economic-insights/sarb-qb-personal-finances-march-2026.pdf - **Published:** 2026-03 - **Validity:** Official statistics - **Summary:** Nedbank's quarterly summary of SARB Quarterly Bulletin household-sector data. Household balance sheets strengthened further in Q4 2025 as rising share prices and firmer house prices lifted asset values faster than liabilities. The JSE All-Share Index surged 37.7% in 2025, driving a significant increase in net wealth. However, household dissaving deepened to the worst level since Q3 2016, and the debt-to-income ratio remained elevated. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - Q4 2025: Household debt to disposable income ratio was 61.8% (down from 62.7% for full year 2024) - Q4 2025: Household net wealth to disposable income ratio rose to 441% (from 432% in Q3); full-year 2025 ratio was 425% (up from 398% in 2024) - 2025: JSE All-Share Index surged 37.7%, the primary driver of the increase in household net wealth - Q4 2025: Personal savings rate deteriorated to -1.4% of disposable income, the deepest since Q3 2016; full-year 2025 savings rate was -1.2% --- ### Racial Inequality and Redistribution in Post-Apartheid South Africa (WID Working Paper 2025/27) - **Source:** World Inequality Lab (WID.world) - **URL:** https://wid.world/www-site/uploads/2025/12/WorldInequalityLab_WP2025_27_-Racial-Inequality-and-Redistribution-in-Post-Apartheid-South-Africa_Final.pdf - **Published:** 2025-11 - **Validity:** Peer-reviewed study - **Summary:** A major new analysis by Czajka & Gethin (November 2025) combining survey, tax, national accounts, and budget data from 1993 to 2019 using the DINA methodology. The paper finds that South Africa "still stands today as the most unequal country for which comparable statistics are available." The White-to-Black per capita factor income ratio was halved from its mid-2000s peak of 17 to 9 by 2019, driven largely by top Black income growth, but the gap remains extreme by international standards. The tax-and-transfer system reduced inequality but has not become more efficient at narrowing racial disparities. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2025 (publication): South Africa "still stands today as the most unequal country for which comparable statistics are available" - 2019 (data): Factor income Gini coefficient was 0.81 with a top 10% income share of 70%; White-to-Black per capita factor income ratio had fallen to 9 (from 17 in mid-2000s) - 2019 (data): Black South Africans earned 17% of the average disposable income and owned 6% of the average wealth of White South Africans; average White per capita income was comparable to Denmark, while average Black income was comparable to Bangladesh --- ### Knight Frank Wealth Report 2025 - **Source:** Knight Frank - **URL:** https://www.knightfrank.com/research/reports/wealthreport/archive-editions/the-wealth-report-2025/contentassets/the-wealth-report-2025.pdf - **Published:** 2025-03 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The 19th edition of Knight Frank's Wealth Report, based on responses from over 600 private bankers and wealth advisors managing over $3 trillion. The global number of individuals with wealth exceeding $10 million grew 4.4% in 2024. South Africa had 5,212 individuals in this bracket. Africa as a region saw 4.7% growth in $10M+ individuals, and Cape Town's prime residential market grew 5.1%. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2024: South Africa had 5,212 individuals with wealth exceeding $10 million (out of a global total of 2,341,378) - 2024: Cape Town prime residential prices increased 5.1%, ranking 32nd globally on the Prime International Residential Index - 2024: Africa recorded 4.7% growth in the number of $10M+ individuals --- ### Africa Wealth Report 2025 - **Source:** Henley & Partners / New World Wealth - **URL:** https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/africa-wealth-report-2025 - **Published:** 2025-08-26 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The 4th edition of the Africa Wealth Report, published by Henley & Partners with New World Wealth. South Africa remains Africa's wealthiest country, accounting for 34% of the continent's millionaires — roughly equal to the next five wealthiest countries combined. Johannesburg is Africa's wealthiest city with 11,700 resident millionaires, while Cape Town ranks second with 8,500 and leads the continent in centi-millionaires. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2025: South Africa had 41,100 resident US dollar millionaires (34% of Africa's total of 122,500) - 2025: Johannesburg had 11,700 resident millionaires (Africa's wealthiest city); Cape Town had 8,500 millionaires and 35 centi-millionaires - 2025: Africa's millionaire population is projected to grow 65% over the next decade --- ### Africa Wealth Report 2026 - **Source:** New World Wealth - **URL:** https://newworldwealth.com/africa-wealth-report - **Published:** 2026-06 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The latest edition of the Africa Wealth Report, with figures as at June 2026. South Africa has consolidated its position as Africa's wealthiest country, now accounting for 38% of the continent's millionaires and 36% of its billionaires. SA ranked 34th globally by millionaire residents, just behind Poland and ahead of Turkey and Thailand. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - June 2026: South Africa had 48,200 resident HNWIs (US dollar millionaires), 131 centi-millionaires, and 10 billionaires — 38% of Africa's total millionaires - June 2026: South Africa ranked 34th wealthiest country globally by millionaire residents --- ### SARS Tax Statistics 2025 (18th Edition) - **Source:** South African Revenue Service / National Treasury - **URL:** https://www.sars.gov.za/latest-news/media-release-joint-media-statement-national-treasury-and-the-south-african-revenue-service-on-the-release-of-the-18th-annual-edition-of-tax-statistics/ - **Published:** 2025-12-05 - **Validity:** Official statistics - **Summary:** The 18th annual edition of the Tax Statistics bulletin, covering tax years 2021–2024 and fiscal years 2020/21–2024/25. SARS collected a record R2.3 trillion in gross tax revenue in 2024/25, with the tax-to-GDP ratio rising to 25.1%. Personal Income Tax remained the largest contributor at 39.5% of total tax revenue. Retirement funding contributions were the largest share of deductions at R278.7 billion. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2024/25: SARS collected R2.3 trillion in gross tax revenue (6.9% more than 2023/24); net tax revenue was R1.9 trillion (6.6% growth) - 2024/25: Tax-to-GDP ratio was 25.1% (up from 22.3% in 2020/21) - 2024 tax year: Assessed taxpayers reported aggregated taxable income of R2.7 trillion with tax liability of R563.3 billion at an average tax rate of 20.8% - 2024 tax year: Contributions to retirement funding (pension, provident, retirement annuity funds) were the largest share of deductions at R278.7 billion (83.7% of total deductions) --- ### National Treasury Rejects Wealth Tax Proposal - **Source:** Citizen (reporting on Parliamentary proceedings); also covered by Moneyweb - **URL:** https://www.citizen.co.za/business/minister-of-finance-says-no-to-wealth-tax/ - **Published:** 2025-05-14 - **Validity:** Major media - **Summary:** In May 2025, ahead of the third attempt to pass Budget 2025, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana stated in Parliament that he does not think a wealth tax is a good idea, arguing that wealthy individuals already pay tax through multiple other channels. This formally closed the door on wealth tax proposals that had been discussed since the Davis Tax Committee's 2018 exploration of the topic. - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - May 2025: Finance Minister Godongwana formally rejected a wealth tax proposal in Parliament, stating the wealthy already contribute through existing tax instruments --- ### World Inequality Database 2025 Update - **Source:** World Inequality Lab (WID.world) - **URL:** https://wid.world/news-article/new-data-revised-methods-highlights-from-the-world-inequality-database-2025-update/ - **Published:** 2026-01-14 - **Validity:** Institutional report - **Summary:** The WID 2025 annual update, covering 216 countries with data extending to 2024 for some countries. The update extended wealth distribution series from 1980 worldwide and back to 1820 for a limited set of countries. It published the third edition of the DINA (Distributional National Accounts) Guidelines and included a specific "2025 DINA Update for countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa region" technical note. The update notes that current wealth inequality estimates "remain unsatisfactory due to limited access to country-level household wealth survey and tax data." - **Key data points (time-referenced):** - 2025 (update): WID extended wealth distribution series from 1980 worldwide, with data going back as far as 1820 to 2024 for some countries - 2025 (update): Published "2025 DINA Update for countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa region" as a dedicated technical note (WID Technical Note 2025/04) --- ## Sources - **Kept:** - UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 press release (ubs.com) — primary source for SA Gini 0.81 (2024 data) - UBS Global Wealth Report 2026 PDF (ubs.com) — primary source for SA Gini 81 (2025 data) and regional wealth growth - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2025 PDF (bcm.nacm.org mirror) — primary source for global financial asset data; SA per capita figure verified via kt-vyvoj.estranky.cz extraction - Nedbank Economics Personal Finances March 2026 (nedbank.co.za) — official SARB QB data on household debt, net wealth, savings, JSE performance - WID Working Paper 2025/27 (wid.world) — major new 2025 peer-reviewed analysis of SA racial inequality dynamics - Knight Frank Wealth Report 2025 PDF (knightfrank.com) — primary source for SA UHNWI counts and prime property data - Henley & Partners Africa Wealth Report 2025 press release (henleyglobal.com) — primary source for SA millionaire counts - New World Wealth Africa Wealth Report 2026 (newworldwealth.com) — primary source for June 2026 SA HNWI counts - SARS Tax Statistics 2025 media release (sars.gov.za) — official source for 2024/25 fiscal year tax revenue data - Citizen newspaper report on wealth tax rejection (citizen.co.za) — major media coverage of parliamentary proceedings - WID 2025 Update article (wid.world) — institutional report on database expansion and methodology - Visual Capitalist (visualcapitalist.com) — verified secondary source tabulating UBS GWR 2025 and 2026 Gini coefficients by country - kt-vyvoj.estranky.cz — verified secondary source extracting Allianz GWR 2025 net financial assets per capita by country - **Dropped:** - Allianz Global Wealth Report 2024 (September 2024) — all data points refer to 2023, does not meet 2024+ data point requirement - SARB Note on Household Finances (June 2024) — household balance sheet data is for end-2023, does not meet 2024+ requirement - Stats SA IES 2022/2023 (released January 2025) — data covers Nov 2022–Nov 2023, does not meet 2024+ requirement - Stats SA Poverty Trends report (covering 2006–2023) — data ends at 2023, does not meet 2024+ requirement - Stats SA NCOP presentation (August 2024) — presentation references older data, no 2024+ data points on wealth - UNU-WIDER WP 2026/26 (March 2026) — uses matched employer-employee data from 2012–2021 only; no 2024+ data points - Scientific African 2026 paper on wealth inequality — could not access full text; abstract only, no verifiable specific data points - Momentum-Unisa Household Wealth Index Q4 2023 — data is for 2023, does not meet 2024+ requirement ## Gaps - **NIDS Wave 6 wealth module:** Wave 6 fieldwork was conducted in 2021/2022, but no new published wealth analysis from Wave 6 data with 2024+ data points was found. The most recent NIDS-based wealth papers still use Wave 5 (2017) data. Wave 7 status is unclear. - **SARS estate duty revenue for 2024/25:** The SARS Tax Statistics 2025 media release does not separately report estate duty collection figures. Chapter 6 ("Other Taxes and Collections") covers estate duty but specific numbers were not available in the media release summary. The full PDF was garbled/encoded and could not be parsed. - **WID.world SA-specific wealth shares for 2024:** The WID 2025 update extends data to 2024 for some countries, but SA-specific top 1%/10% wealth share figures for 2024 were not accessible on the WID country page (which returned an error). The most recent SA-specific wealth share data in WID remains from the Chatterjee et al. series ending in 2017. - **Updated racial wealth gap post-2019:** The WID WP 2025/27 provides the most comprehensive racial inequality analysis but its data ends in 2019. No newer study was found measuring the Black-to-White wealth ratio with 2024+ data. - **Inheritance receipt data 2024–2026:** No new data on inheritance receipt by race was found for 2024–2026. The Simson & Mahmoudzadeh probate records study (already covered) remains the most recent. - **Allianz GWR 2025 SA-specific distribution data:** The Allianz GWR 2025 PDF was fetched but the SA-specific distribution section (top 10% share for 2024) could not be located within the 91,580-character document. The 2024 edition reported 85% for 2023; the 2025 edition's equivalent figure for 2024 is unconfirmed.