Beyond Demographics: Understanding The Complexity Of South Africa’s Women’s Market
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Guest – Andrew Fulton, Director at Eighty20
The 2025 Income & Expenditure survey reveals some noteworthy South African realities. One is that on average, women still earn significantly less than men, with female-headed households earning R93,540 compared to R176,812 for their male counterparts. This topline figure, however, obscures a more nuanced story that forward-thinking brands are utilising. When controlling for education and employment status (for instance full-time employed women with postgraduate degrees) female earnings rise as high as 90% of its male counterparts.
According to recent MAPS and StatsSA data, there are nearly 1.5 million more women than men in the country (they tend to live five years longer), women represent 59% of undergraduate degree holders, 52% of smartphone owners and contribute 45% of national income. Declining fertility rates (from 2.78 children per woman in 2008 to 2.21 today) have accelerated women's participation in higher education and workforce entry, fundamentally reshaping consumer spending patterns across most categories.
The 2025 Income & Expenditure survey reveals some noteworthy South African realities. One is that on average, women still earn significantly less than men, with female-headed households earning R93,540 compared to R176,812 for their male counterparts. This topline figure, however, obscures a more nuanced story that forward-thinking brands are utilising. When controlling for education and employment status (for instance full-time employed women with postgraduate degrees) female earnings rise as high as 90% of its male counterparts.
According to recent MAPS and StatsSA data, there are nearly 1.5 million more women than men in the country (they tend to live five years longer), women represent 59% of undergraduate degree holders, 52% of smartphone owners and contribute 45% of national income. Declining fertility rates (from 2.78 children per woman in 2008 to 2.21 today) have accelerated women's participation in higher education and workforce entry, fundamentally reshaping consumer spending patterns across most categories.
