SA consumers' debts reach alarming levels
A debt solutions group says South Africa's consumer debt situation is getting worse, as salaries have practically shrunk over the last five years.
It says debt-to-income ratio's at an all time high because consumers are spending 60% of their take-home pay to service debt.
According to a DebtBusters report, real incomes have dropped by 21% as inflation continues to bite workers, with a growth of 24% since 2016.
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The group's Benay Sager says levels of unsecured debt have also risen by 32% in the last five years.
"Particularly for those who take home R20 000 or more and we find that to be quite alarming and we believe that this is driven because consumers need the money and they are not getting the relevant increases in terms of pay in terms of what they take home.
"Therefore they are left to borrow more predominately by tapping into their credit cards, using overdraft and borrowing on personal loans."
