Extreme Poverty in South Africa: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

To understand extreme poverty is to look beyond raw percentages and visualize the lived reality of millions. When we quantify the share of people living below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15/day, 2017 PPP, we are counting individual days of survival. In the 2020s, extreme poverty in South Africa stands at 20 %, a figure that places the nation at #117 of 157 countries. While these statistics provide a necessary bird's-eye view of economic conditions, they ultimately represent the baseline of human material security across generations.

The historical arc of South Africa reveals a long, incremental shift in these conditions. In the 1800s estimate 68 % lived in such poverty. By the 1900s estimate 63.54 %, the needle had moved only slightly. However, the data shows a more pronounced acceleration in the latter half of the twentieth century, dropping from 55.39 % in the 1950s to 37.56 % by the 1980s. Following the 2010s at 27.25 %, we now arrive at the current 20 %. Projections suggest this downward trend may continue toward 2 % by the 2100s.

For a person born in South Africa, the century of their birth fundamentally alters their economic floor. An individual in the 1840s estimate 66.22 % faced a vastly different set of material possibilities than one born during the 2040s projection 11.25 % or the 2070s projection 4.75 %. While these mathematical trends do not dictate the outcomes of specific lives, they define the structural boundaries of the era. Use our interactive tool to see where you rank among everyone ever born.