Top earners are under significant debt pressure; according to data released by DebtBusters on Tuesday.
DebtBusters said a benchmark analysis of debt counselling applications for the second quarter has shown that those taking home more than R50,000 a month now need 103% of their income to make their debt repayments.
A consumer debt index acts as a barometer of financial stress and credit risk in the economy. For business-people, policymakers, and investors, it provides early warning signals about spending power, repayment capacity, and systemic vulnerabilities.
“The total debt-to-annual-net-income ratio for top earners is 307%. Much of this is driven by unsecured debt, which is 84% higher than it was in 2021, far outpacing cumulative inflation of 29%."
By contrast, lower-income earners’ total debt had fallen by up to 23%. This reflected reduced access to credit rather than improved financial health. Across all applicants, the share of take-home pay required to service debt was now 64%, down from a peak of 73% in the first quarter of 2021 – though the figure is still elevated.
Benay Sager, executive head of DebtBusters, said that the longer-term lending picture suggests that credit risk is increasingly concentrated among fewer consumers.
“Over the past decade, the average unsecured loan size has increased, while the volume has decreased. This means larger unsecured loans are being granted to fewer consumers, concentrating credit risk within an ever-smaller group.”
DebtBusters added that while top earners are the standout group in terms of borrowing, many income bands have seen little or no improvement in their circumstances.
“Although income growth has broadly kept pace with consumer price inflation since 2021, individual cost-of-living components have moved faster than the Consumer Price Index. Petrol prices are up 52% since 2021, and electricity tariffs are up 101%. For those earning R10,000 to R20,000 – the backbone of South Africa’s working population – almost a third of disposable income is spent on food, leaving very little for insurance, savings, or emergencies.”
DebtBusters said the prevalence of personal loans and one-month loan accounts indicates the severe cash flow pressure consumers are under.
Nearly all new debt counselling applicants now had a personal loan, while the share with a one-month ‘payday’ loan was at a record high of 63%. Multi-lender borrowing, where consumers hold multiple credit agreements, was also at its highest level since 2016, when the Debt Index was first compiled.
“The average rate on unsecured debt is 19.6% per annum, a slight increase, but below its peak. The share of home loan debt has fallen to 20% from 30% in the same quarter of 2023.
The latest debt index echoed a finding from DebtBusters’ fifth annual Money-Stress Tracker; a survey that assesses how South Africans experience financial stress. Both found that financial stress is increasingly concentrated among people early or late in their careers, with younger people and those nearing retirement most acutely affected.
Sager said that it is good news that more consumers are taking action to manage their debt. “In Q2 2026, roughly 14 times more consumers successfully completed debt counselling than in the same quarter in 2016. These consumers paid R570 million to their creditors while under debt counselling – money that may not otherwise have flowed back into the economy. That’s a powerful indication of what debt counselling can achieve for individuals and the country.
yogashen.pillay@nationalmg.co.za
THE NATIONAL