Johannesburg, South Africa – While National Savings Month places renewed focus on building financial resilience, new findings from the FinScope Consumer South Africa 2025 Survey show that rising living costs and shrinking disposable incomes are reshaping how South Africans manage their financial lives. Fewer South Africans are saving, formal savings have declined, and those who do save are increasingly prioritising immediate financial needs over longer-term goals.
Nearly one in two South African adults (48%), equivalent to approximately 22.4 million people, are not saving at all. At the same time, savings through formal financial institutions declined sharply from 30% in 2024 to 22% in 2025, reflecting the growing pressure that higher living costs are placing on South Africans’ ability to save.
Among South Africans who do save, only 40% use organised savings channels, including formal financial institutions and informal mechanisms such as stokvels and other organised savings groups. A further 13% rely exclusively on cash kept at home, leaving their money vulnerable to theft, inflation and unplanned spending.
The challenge is also evident among working South Africans. Of the country’s 19.5 million workers, only 37% save through formal financial institutions. While just over half (51%) of formally employed workers save formally, this falls significantly to 22% among informally employed workers, highlighting the increased financial vulnerability of those outside the formal labour market.
The impact of these pressures is mostly visible in emergency and goal-based savings. Short-term savings declined from 15% to 10%, while medium-term savings fell from 12% to 9%, suggesting that many South Africans are drawing on their available resources to manage current pressures rather than building reserves for future needs.
Despite the overall decline in saving, the reasons why South Africans save reveal a shift in priorities. Food remains the leading reason for saving, followed by funeral expenses. Savings towards education, housing improvements and business investment are less prominent. This suggests that rising living costs are forcing many South Africans to prioritise immediate necessities over developmental goals that support long-term financial resilience and economic opportunity. The findings point to constrained financial capacity, with available resources increasingly absorbed by the cost of meeting essential needs.
“These findings show how rising financial pressure is reshaping South Africans’ financial behaviour. Many South Africans are prioritising immediate needs such as food and other essential expenses, while fewer are able to save towards longer-term goals such as education, housing improvements and business investment,” said Jabulani Khumalo, Senior Data and Analytics Specialist at FinMark Trust. “In addition to encouraging saving, building financial resilience also requires creating conditions that enable South Africans to save consistently.”
This pressure is reflected in the FinScope Financial Health Index. The proportion of adults achieving high scores on the ‘Opportunity’ dimension declined from 32% to 28%. As this dimension measures saving and investment towards future goals, the decline suggests that fewer South Africans are able to accumulate assets or invest in opportunities that improve long-term financial well-being.
The relationship between savings and credit has also shifted. Purchases of goods on credit increased from 18% to 24%, while the use of lay-bys – a savings-led purchasing mechanism – declined sharply from 25% to 17%. Although the survey does not explicitly measure Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products, the increase in goods purchased on credit is consistent with the rapid expansion of BNPL and other point-of-sale credit solutions that have become increasingly visible in the South African retail market.
The findings suggest that many South Africans are moving away from saving first and paying later towards accessing goods immediately through credit, reflecting increasing pressure on disposable incomes and the need to manage immediate consumption needs.
South Africa’s retirement savings gap remains a significant concern, with 86% of economically active adults having no formal retirement savings. However, emerging evidence from the Two-Pot Retirement System indicates that when South Africans access additional retirement funds, many continue to prioritise essential investments such as education and housing-related needs rather than discretionary spending.
National Savings Month therefore provides an opportunity to broaden the conversation around financial resilience. While financial education remains important, awareness alone cannot address the reality that many South Africans have limited disposable income available for saving. Strengthening financial resilience will require interventions that improve people’s ability to manage daily pressures while creating opportunities to save and invest for the future.
The FinScope Consumer South Africa 2025 Survey provides a detailed view of how South Africans are adapting their financial behaviour in a challenging economic environment. The full survey results will be officially launched on 30 July 2026.
For more information or media interview requests:
Contact: Dionne Solomons
dionnes@finmark.org.za