South Africans in low-income bands  fork out more than half their earnings to put food on the table.

This is according to the latest insights from a DebtBusters study that looks at spending patterns across five income groups of consumers. The income groups are:

The study shows how consumers across different income groups prioritise their spending every month. It shows that on average consumers spend 68% of take-home pay to service debt.

Benay Sager, executive head of DebtBusters, said the study provides interesting insights into how South Africans in different income bands prioritise spending, after debt repayments.

“For example, there is surprisingly consistent spending across all income groups on transport, utilities and cellphones, but spend on accommodation differs significantly.

“Excluding debt repayments, people taking home less than R5,000 spend 9%, while those earning between R10,000 and R20,000 allocate 31% for housing, more than any other income band,” he said.

Grocery spend also differs markedly. Households with less take-home pay spend a greater proportion on food. The lowest earners spend more than half their non debt-repayment disposable income on groceries.

The proportion declines across the income bands. For top earners, the comparable ratio is just less than a quarter (23%).

Those taking home less than R5,000 per month are having to cut back on housing costs to accommodate for higher electricity prices and high food inflation.

Those taking home between R10,000 and R20,000 per month — the backbone of the working population — are under severe housing pressure and have had to cut back on food expenditure and spending on their children.

Those in the mid-income bracket spend about 29% of their budget on food every month.

The latest Household Affordability Index shows VAT accounts for more than 6% of consumers’ monthly food basket.

According to the index, compiled monthly by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD), the rand value of VAT on basic food “is very high and removes money from the purse that could be spent on more food, better diversity of food and better quality food”.

The Household Affordability Index tracks the prices of 44 basic foods from 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba in northern KwaZulu-Natal and Springbok in the Northern Cape monthly.

It shows the average cost of the household food basket increased by R35.92 from R5,277.30 in February 2024 to R5,313.22 in February 2025.

The DebtBusters study also showed spending on insurance, including medical aid, is negligible in the two lower income bands but increases from 1% in the R10,000 to R20,000 band to 13% among top earners.

Sager said: “Unsurprisingly, but worryingly, spending on retirement is all but non-existent. Only the top two income bands allocate some money to retirement savings, which shows that with the recent changes made to the two-pot retirement system, there is much work to be done to educate South Africans about long-term savings.”