More S. Africans live in extream poverty: report

Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-22 22:39:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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CAPE TOWN, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of South Africans living in extreme poverty increased by 2.8 million, from 11 million in 2011 to 13.8 million in 2015, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday.

The bureau identifies people living in extreme poverty as persons who are living below the 2015 Food Poverty Line of 441 rand (about 34 US dollars at the current rate) per person per month.

However, this is lower than in 2009 when persons living in extreme poverty were 16.7 million, Stats SA said in its report on poverty trends in the country.

The proportion of the population living in poverty declined from 66.6 percent (31.6 million persons) in 2006 to 53.2 percent (27.3 million) in 2011, but increased to 55.5 percent (30.4 million) in 2015, says the report.

The report shows that the most vulnerable to poverty in South Africa are children (aged 17 or younger), females, black Africans, people living in rural areas, those residing in Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces, and persons with little or no education.

The income per capita Gini coefficient (income inequality) has declined from 0.72 percent in 2006 to 0.68 percent in 2015, says the report.

However, there are notable variations amongst various population groups: black Africans have the highest income inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.65 in 2015, increasing from 0.64 in 2006. Income inequality amongst whites declined from 0.56 in 2006 to 0.51 in 2015.

The Gini coefficient amongst coloureds declined from 0.60 in 2006 to 0.58 in 2015.

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