The growing black middle-class and high-income black households are fuelling a demand for luxury goods in South Africa – but tastes are changing.
According to the newest UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing study on South Africa's black middle-class, released on Thursday, there are 3.4 million people in the middle class group, with a combined spending power of R400 billion per year. The institute describes the middle class as households earning between R22 000 and R40 000 per month.
Along with high-income households, they have helped to fuel double-digit growth in luxury goods sales before the pandemic – with a strong recovery since 2021, according to the latest State of The Luxury Market in Africa report by South Africa's biggest pre-owned luxury reseller, Luxity.