More men than women say they are poor in South Africa, Stats SA finds

South Africans may be feeling slightly better about their financial situations than they did a decade ago, but for many that sense of improvement is fragile and incomplete. When it comes to gender, there is a slightly higher share of men who consider themselves poor compared with women. Data from Statistics South Africa reveal a complex picture in which rising perceptions of financial adequacy coexist with widespread feelings of income strain and economic uncertainty.

The Subjective Poverty in South Africa: Findings from the Income and ExpenditureSurveyfound that fewer individuals now describe themselves as poor, but a significant number still say their earnings are not enough to meet everyday needs. It is worth noting that subjective poverty is not only about income but also about how individuals experience their everyday lives. Stats SA said subjective poverty reflects whether individuals perceive that their resources allow them to live with dignity and meet what they regard as basic, acceptable living standards.

Households that do not perceive themselves as “poor” may still feel financially strained and uncertain. Those perceptions matter, they influence how households make decisions, plan for the future, and navigate the challenges of everyday life. According to theblogpublished earlier in March 2026, fewer people in the country perceive themselves as poor than they did eight years ago.

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“Two of the three measures used to capture how individuals perceive their financial status have improved,” said Stats SA. “Using the self-perceived wealth indicator – which reflects how individuals rate their own financial wellbeing – individuals who perceived themselves as poor dropped from 34.4% in 2015 to 25.7% in 2023.” Findings revealed that the minimum income indicator, which compares what individuals say they need to make ends meet with what they actually earn, also declined, from 50.6% to 41.3%. The income evaluation indicator, which measures whether individuals regard their income as sufficient to cover what they believe they need, increased from 49.7% to 51.4%. “This means that a slightly larger share of individuals now regard their income falls short, even though fewer individuals classified themselves as poor overall,” said Stats SA.

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