[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-113272-en":3,"doc-seo-113272-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},113272,8796095462418,"Noah","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80000253c1241d02b47?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778826106357471780",8,"Research & Report","Wealth Inequality in South Africa - 1993–2017","This article estimates the distribution of personal wealth in South Africa from 1993 to 2017 by integrating microdata from income tax returns, household surveys, and macroeconomic balance sheet statistics. South Africa exhibits exceptionally high wealth concentration: the top 10% own 86% of aggregate wealth, while the top 0.1% holds nearly one-third. The top 0.01% concentrates 15% of household net worth, exceeding the bottom 90% collectively. The inequality reflects asset concentration across housing, pensions, and financial wealth and shows no clear decline after apartheid.","Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized  \nThe World Bank Economic Review, 36(1), 2022, 19–36  \n[https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhab012](https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhab012)  \nArticle  \nWealth Inequality in South Africa, 1993–2017 Aroop Chatterjee, Léo Czajka, and Amory Gethin  \nAbstract  \nThis article estimates the distribution of personal wealth in South Africa by combining microdata covering the universe of income tax returns, household surveys, and macroeconomic balance sheet statistics. South Africa is characterized by unparalleled levels of wealth concentration. The top 10 percent own 86 percent of aggregate wealth and the top 0.1 percent close to one-third. The top 0.01 percent of the distribution (3,500 individuals) concentrate 15 percent of household net worth, more than the bottom 90 percent as a whole. Such levels of inequality can be accounted for in all forms of assets at the top end, including housing, pension funds, and financial assets. There has been no sign of decreasing inequality since the end of apartheid.  \nJEL classification: E01, D31, I3, G51  \nKeywords: wealth distribution, income capitalization, households balance sheets, national accounts, inequality  \n1. Introduction  \nA growing number of studies have made significant progress in measuring the distribution of household income and consumption within countries and over time, yet still little is known on the dynamics of household wealth. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in the developing world, where available data sources are scarce, often insufficiently detailed, and prone to important measurement error. Given the rise of global wealth concentration (Alvaredo et al. 2018; Zucman 2019 ) and the policy challenges it poses in terms of tax evasion (Alstadsæter, Johannesen, and Zucman 2019; Kleven et al. 2020; Londoño-Vélez and Ávila-Mahecha 2021) and political equilibrium (Esteban and Ray 2006; Bombardini and Trebbi 2020; Bertrand et al. 2020), there is a pressing need to address this shortcoming and improve our knowledge of the wealth distribution.  \nAroop Chatterjee leads the research agenda on wealth inequality at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; his email address is [aroop.chatterjee@wits.ac.za. L](aroop.chatterjee@wits.ac.za. L)éo Czajka is a PhD candidate at Université catholique de Louvain and a research fellow at the World Inequality Lab, Paris School of Economics; his email address is [leo.czajka@gmail.com. Amory Gethin](leo.czajka@gmail.com. Amory Gethin) (corresponding author) is a PhD candidate at the Paris School of Economics and a research fellow at the World Inequality Lab; his email address is [amory.gethin@psemail.eu. The](amory.gethin@psemail.eu. The) authors thank the SA-TIED Datalab team, as well as Facundo Alvaredo, Thomas Blanchet, Keith Breckenridge, Josh Budlender, Aalia Cassim, Lucas Chancel, Allan Davids, Andrew Kerr, Murray Leibbrandt, Thomas Piketty, Michael Sachs, Imraan Valodia, and Eddie Webster for helpful insights. The authors also thank seminar participants from the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, WiSER, School of Economics and Finance at the University of Witwatersrand, and SALDRU at the University of Cape Town. The authors acknowledge financial support from the UNU-WIDER SA-TIED project, the Ford Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, and the European Research Council (ERC Grant 340831) . The study was originally commissioned under the UNU-WIDER project, Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) . The authors are responsible for all opinions and errors. A supplementary online appendix is available with this article at The World Bank Economic Review website.  \n© The Author(s) 2021 . Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / THE WORLD BANK. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Cre","cbCair4d7NJNYPPP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCair4d7NJNYPPP","pdf",432463,1,18,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Data sources and measurement gap\n# Wealth distribution results\n## Concentration at the top\n## Comparison across groups and countries\n# Trends since the end of apartheid\n## Stability and possible increases","[{\"question\":\"How does the article measure wealth inequality in South Africa (1993–2017)?\",\"answer\":\"It combines microdata from income tax returns, household survey data, and macroeconomic balance sheet statistics to estimate the distribution of personal wealth over time.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the article find about wealth concentration in South Africa?\",\"answer\":\"The top 10% own about 86% of aggregate wealth, the top 0.1% holds nearly one-third, and the top 0.01% (around 3,500 individuals) concentrates 15% of household net worth.\"},{\"question\":\"Has wealth inequality decreased since the end of apartheid?\",\"answer\":\"No clear decrease is observed. The top 10% wealth share fluctuates between roughly 80% and 90% from 1993 to 2017, and evidence suggests top 1% and top 0.01% shares may have increased.\"}]",1784502057,45,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"wealth-inequality-in-south-africa-19932017","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,53,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/wealth-inequality-in-south-africa-19932017/113272/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-19",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"How does the article measure wealth inequality in South Africa (1993–2017)?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It combines microdata from income tax returns, household survey data, and macroeconomic balance sheet statistics to estimate the distribution of personal wealth over time.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"What does the article find about wealth concentration in South Africa?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The top 10% own about 86% of aggregate wealth, the top 0.1% holds nearly one-third, and the top 0.01% (around 3,500 individuals) concentrates 15% of household net worth.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"Has wealth inequality decreased since the end of apartheid?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"No clear decrease is observed. The top 10% wealth share fluctuates between roughly 80% and 90% from 1993 to 2017, and evidence suggests top 1% and top 0.01% shares may have increased.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,100,104,109,114,119,122,127,130,134],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]