Poverty Trends in South Africa: an examination of absolute poverty between 2006 and 2015

According to the recent report, Poverty Trends in South Africa: an examination of absolute poverty between 2006 and 2015, "Despite the general decline in poverty between 2006 and 2011, poverty levels in South Africa rose in 2015. When applying the upper-bound poverty line (R992 per person per month (pppm) in 2015 prices), we see that more than one out of every two South Africans were poor in 2015, with the poverty headcount increasing to 55,5% from a series low of 53,2% in 2011. This translates into over 30,4 million South Africans living in poverty in 2015. While the recent increase in the headcount is unfortunate, we are still better off compared to the country's poverty situation from a decade earlier when it was estimated that two out of every three people (66,6% or roughly 31,6 million people) were living below the UBPL in 2006."

"This report presents poverty levels and trends based on data collected by Stats SA through the Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) and Living Conditions Survey (LCS). These data sources provide us with comparable data points for 2006, 2009, 2011 and now 2015, based on the results of the recently released LCS 2014/2015. The poverty indicators in this report have been derived using household expenditure data collected through a combination of the diary and recall methods and utilising the rebased national poverty lines published in 2015. The report focuses on the poverty profile of individuals and households at national and provincial levels."