South Africa economic update: jobs and inequality

The number of South Africa’s poor could be reduced by more than half by 2030 through various combined policy interventions that reduce inequality by creating skilled jobs for the poor and ignite growth by increasing competition, policy certainty and promote skilled migration, according to a recently released World Bank report. Projecting the South African economy through 2030, the 11th edition of the South Africa Economic Update: Focus on Jobs and Inequality, assesses the potential impact of a combination of various policy interventions on jobs, poverty, and inequality. This report presents a scenario in which the number of the poor could be reduced by more half, dropping to 4.1 million by 2030 from 10.5 million in 2017. In addition, the Gini index of inequality would reduce to 56 in 2030 from 63 in 2017 and 800 thousand jobs could be created with the economy increasing at an annual rate of 2.2% as a result of these interventions.