Work & income · South Africa
The pay ladder in South Africa
Professionals earn $2,445 a month and agriculture and fishing earn $298 — 8.2× from the top of the ladder to the bottom.
Mean gross monthly earnings in PPP dollars, so the figures say what the money buys locally rather than what it converts to. 9 of the ten ISCO-08 occupation groups are published for South Africa; latest year 2020.
| Occupation group | Monthly | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professionals | $2,445 | 38 % | |
| Managers | $1,959 | 39 % | |
| Technicians | $1,410 | -4 % | |
| Machine operators | $1,269 | 40 % | |
| Craft and trades | $930 | 30 % | |
| Clerical support | $840 | -51 % | |
| Service and sales | $797 | 45 % | |
| Elementary occupations | $461 | 46 % | |
| Agriculture and fishing | $298 | 34 % |
How steep is South Africa?
The distance from the best-paid group to the worst-paid is 8.2×, which makes South Africa steeper than 90 of the 99 countries with a full ladder and flatter than 8. That ratio is the part a national average cannot tell you: two countries can share an average wage and have entirely different ladders beneath it.
Where the gap between men and women is widest
In South Africa it is widest among elementary occupations at 46 % — men $636 against women $342 — and narrowest among clerical support at -51 %. The gap is measured within each occupation group, so it is not explained away by men and women doing different kinds of work.
What these groups are, and are not
These are the ISCO-08 major groups, the finest breakdown published across countries. “Professionals” covers doctors, engineers and teachers together; “elementary occupations” covers cleaning, portering and labouring. There is no figure here for an individual job title, and we would rather say so than estimate one.
Ladders to compare it with
Source: ILO, mean nominal monthly earnings of employees by occupation (EAR_EMTA). Mean gross monthly earnings, PPP international dollars, both sexes. ISCO-08 major groups (one digit — the deepest ILO publishes). Latest available year per group; snapshot taken 2026-08-14.