Social Grants in South Africa - Inter-Regional Inequality Facility Policy Briefs 1

Since 2000, levels of investment and economic growth in South Africa have achieved their fastest increases in decades. Nevertheless, with an official unemployment rate of 26%, a poverty rate estimated at approximately 50%, and one of the most severe measures of inequality in the world, South Africa faces substantial challenges in addressing poverty, inequality and unemployment. While it ranks as an upper-middle income country based on average income, some of the nation’s social indicators are comparable to those of the poorest countries of the world.