At least 23 million South Africans are poor, reveals Stats SA poverty report

At least 23 million people in South Africa are considered poor.

This is according to the lower-bound poverty threshold by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

The 2023 figure is roughly 2.5 million less since 2015.

Stats SA released its revised poverty trends report on Thursday, the first update in nearly eight years.

According to Stats SA’s national poverty lines, the Lower-Bound Poverty Line (LBPL) is capped at R1,300 per person, per month.

At almost double the food poverty line, Stats SA said this is the threshold that forces difficult trade-offs between food and other necessities.

In 2006, the poverty headcount using the LBPL stood at 57,5% (approximately 27,3 million people) - which declined to the current 37,9%.

Statistician General Risenga Maluleke explained: “We can see that the lower bound poverty line is declining so poverty is declining in South Africa.”

He said while there has been progress in decreasing the poverty headcount over the last two decades, the pace of that progress remains slow.

Using the food poverty line, poverty dropped from 13 million people in 2006 to 10,8 million in 2023. Using the upper-bound poverty line, 10 million people lived in poverty in 2006 compared to the 17 million in 2023.

The group of people classified as non-poor doubled from 10 million in 2006 to 20 million in 2023.