Overview
- The report sets the 2023 Lower‑Bound Poverty Line at R1,300 per person per month and counts about 23.2 million people as poor, a 19.6 percentage‑point decline since 2006.
- Children remain most affected with a 49.1% poverty rate and they account for 43.1% of all poor people, with over 71% of the poor under age 35.
- Rural poverty rates were roughly double urban rates in 2023; rural child poverty fell from 86.9% in 2006 to 64.3% in 2023 but remains high.
- KwaZulu‑Natal holds about one in four of South Africa’s poor, and together with Eastern Cape, North West and Limpopo accounts for nearly 60%, while Gauteng’s share rose to about 20%.
- People 65 and older saw the largest improvement, progress was strongest among Black African and Coloured populations, and poverty rates edged up slightly for White and Indian/Asian groups since 2015 as the poverty gap narrowed.