SA salaries rise for sixth straight month as job market strengthens (slightly) - index

Salaries in South Africa have risen for the sixth consecutive month in September 2025, according to the latest PayInc Net Salary Index Report.

The payments provider (formerly known as BankservAfrica) says this points to a strengthening job market in the third quarter of the year.

The average net salary increased on average by 0.4% quarter on quarter, while around 48 000 more salaries were paid during Q3.

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The Index reached R21 428 in September, which was 0.3% up on August’s level and 2.3% higher than a year ago.

The stats come from tracking the average nominal net salaries of approximately 2.1 million employed people in South Africa.

The data reflects what seems to be a sustained period of salary increases for many people, concurs Shergeran Naidoo, head of Stakeholder Engagements at PayInc SA.

"In fact it reflects that 2025 will be 'a good salary year', on average. And this is really based on factors such as the benign inflationary environment that we're experiencing. It's also really reflective of the fact that the economy is in a better place than most of us would have thought, probably eight or nine months ago."

Naidoo says the Index measures salaries ranging between R5,000 and R100,000.

"Even though we've got a high unemployment rate, hovering around 33%, there are at least some positive signs that there is employment that's taking place, with around 48,000 new payments coming in just in this last quarter... so I think it's pretty much a good news story."

For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article