Cost of Living
Where the pain moved: pay against the bills that get paid first.
Since 2008, pay has grown 3.2 times. Electricity has grown 6.3 times.
We put 18 years of Stats SA data on the same starting line (electricity, fuel, public transport, bread, general prices and average pay) and let them race.
Pay beat general inflation. It did not beat the bills that get paid first. Electricity pulled away from the start and never looked back, and this year's fuel spike has pushed petrol back ahead of pay.
The pressure on a household budget has moved from the trolley to the meter and the pump: costs paid upfront, often daily, before any debit order runs.
And the pay line is the formal-sector average. For most customers in a collections book, pay has grown more slowly. Income is not affordability.
Sources
- Stats SA Consumer Price Index (P0141), December each year to August 2026: electricity and other fuels, fuel, public transport, bread and cereals, all items
- Stats SA Quarterly Employment Statistics (P0277): average monthly earnings, formal non-agricultural sector (R9,509 in 2008; R29,997 in Q1 2026)
- Series chain-linked by Nexalta across Stats SA base changes to Dec 2008 = 100.
Where does your book sit?
The Nexalta diagnostic replaces assumptions with evidence from your own operation.
Contact