South Africa’s highest earners are facing growing debt pressure, with people earning more than R50,000 a month now needing 103% of their monthly income to service their debt obligations.
South Africa’s highest earners are supposed to have the biggest financial cushions. Instead, for a growing number of consumers taking home more than R50,000 a month, a large salary comes with an even larger debt burden.
According to the latest DebtBusters Q2 2026 Debt Index, consumers in this income bracket now need 103% of their monthly income to service their debt.
Their total debt is now equivalent to 307% of their annual net income, with unsecured debt among these consumers 84% higher than it was in 2021.
Executive head of DebtBusters Benay Sager said the average size of unsecured loans had increased significantly over the past decade, even as the number of loans declined.
