ihsaanbassier/TopIncomesSouthAfrica

Trends in top percentiles of income in South Africa # TopIncomesSouthAfrica Abstract: We use tax data (which, unlike survey data, includes accurate data for the very rich) to investigate the patterns of income growth over the period 2003 to 2016. Despite South Africa’s need for inclusive economic growth in the light of its extreme inequality, we find that the top 5% of incomes grew at about 5% per year compared to national income growth of 3.65% per year. This divergence is particularly striking in the post-recession period (where top incomes grew at about double the national growth rate) and appears to be partially driven by high growth in income from capital.