What would a basic income cost in South Africa?
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Total cost per year
552 billion South African rand
about 30.8 billion US dollars
64.7 million people × 710 South African rand a month × 12 months
Compared with
- Government expense (central) (2022)21.6%
- Government revenue (central, excl. grants) (2024)24.6%
- Tax revenue (central government) (2024)27.9%
- GDP (nominal) (2025)7.2%
South Africa in numbers
South Africa has a population of 64.7 million (2025) and a GDP of 7.64 trillion South African rand (about 427 billion US dollars) in 2025.
Paying everyone 710 South African rand a month would cost 552 billion South African rand a year (about 30.8 billion US dollars), or 7.2% of GDP. That equals 21.6% of central government expense (2022), 24.6% of its revenue (2024), and 27.9% of its tax revenue (2024).
Children only (under 18: 19.9 million) would cost 170 billion South African rand a year (2.2% of GDP); adults only (18 and over: 44.8 million), 382 billion South African rand (5%).
Default amount: 710 South African rand a month is the World Bank's international poverty line of $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), converted into South African rand with the World Bank's PPP conversion factor for household consumption (2025) and rounded to two significant figures. It is a reference point, not a policy proposal; change it above.
How to read this
This is the gross cost: the total paid out. The real net cost depends on which taxes fund it, which benefits or tax breaks it replaces and whether the payment is taxed. The population, budget and GDP figures are not all from the same year (see the sources).
Sources for the figures
- Population
- World Bank: population, total (SP.POP.TOTL), and population by single year of age 0 to 17 (SP.POP.AG00.FE.IN … SP.POP.AG17.MA.IN), 2025
- SP.POP.AG00.FE.IN … SP.POP.AG17.MA.IN
- Government expense and tax revenue
- World Bank: central government expense, revenue excluding grants and tax revenue, % of GDP (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS, GC.REV.XGRT.GD.ZS, GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), 2022, 2024
- Default amount
- World Bank: international poverty line of $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), June 2025 update
- World Bank: PPP conversion factor, household final consumption (PA.NUS.PRVT.PP), 2025
- Retrieved from the World Bank API on November 9, 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Government figures are central government, as a share of GDP in their own year, applied to the latest GDP.