Wealth data quality in the National Income Dynamics Study Wave 2

Figures & data

Figure 1: Derivation of household net worth from components of assets and liabilities

Notes: HH, household.

Table 1: NIDS and SARB components of assets and liabilities

Components of assets and liabilities	NIDS	SARB
Financial assets
Cash	Yes	Yes
Bank account	Yes	Yes
Life insurance	Yes	Yes
Stocks, bonds and other (domestic) assets	Yes (do not differentiate between foreign and domestic)	Yes
Pension/retirement annuity	Yes	Yes
Foreign assets	No	Yes
Non-financial assets
Vehicle assets	Yes	Yes
Business assets	Yes (one-shot)	Plant and machinery, construction works, cultivated assets and inventories
Real-estate assets	Yes	Yes
Consumer durables	No	Yes
Liabilities
Real-estate debt/mortgage advances	Yes	Yes
Other debt
Business debt	Yes	Contained in financial debt categories
Vehicle debt	Yes	Contained in financial debt categories
Financial debt	Yes	Yes (open account credit, personal loans extended by banks, credit card facilities, instalment sale transactions and lease agreements, other personal loans and non-bank loans)

Source: Aron et al. (2007) and SALDRU (2012).

Note: A detailed classification of the SARB's inclusions and sources in various asset and debt categories can be found in Aron et al. (2007:56–59).

Table 2: Rand value of components of assets and liabilities in NIDS and SARB national accounts

Wealth category	NIDS, weighted (Rand)	SARB (Rand)	NIDS/SARB (%)
Financial assets	1 426 966 233 666	4 605 000 000 000	30.99
Non-financial assets	4 873 749 174 977	1 968 000 000 000	247.65
Total assets	6 300 715 453 985	6 573 000 000 000	95.86
Real-estate debt	340 835 863 726	781 000 000 000	43.64
Other debt	112 549 115 442	476 000 000 000	23.64
Total debt	453 384 979 998	1 257 000 000 000	36.07
Net worth	6 012 825 921 447	5 315 000 000 000	113.13

Table 3: Household-level response for one-shot wealth

One-shot household net worth (Question F2.1)	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative
Don't know	2 379	34.94	34.94
Refuse	357	5.24	40.18
Missing	4	0.06	40.24
Not asked in Phase 2	387	5.68	45.92
Something left over	1 220	17.92	63.84
Break even	2 314	33.98	97.83
Debt	148	2.17	100
Total	6 809	100

Note: *For ‘Successfully Interviewed’ households only.

Table 4: Distributions of two measures of household net worth (2010 Rand, unweighted)

Variable	Minimum	P10	P25	P50	Mean	P75	P95	Maximum	Coefficient of variation	N
Derived net worth	–17 500 000	0	148	10 009	413 959	61 425	750 668	312 000 000	16.30	5 845
One-shot net worth	–2 016 144	0	0	0	156 817	10 081	500 445	99 800 000	11.99	3 639

Note: P10, 10th percentile; P25, 25th percentile; P50, 50th percentile; P75, 75th percentile; P95, 95th percentile.

Table 5: Distribution of components of assets and liabilities (2010 Rand, unweighted)

Variable	Minimum	P10	P25	P50	Mean	P75	P95	Maximum	Coefficient of variation	N
Total assets	1	118	998	19 665	503 068	80 193	923 656	364 000 000	15.48	5 037
Real estate	1	1 497	8 090	35 000	591 639	100 807	898 401	353 000 000	15.24	3 413
Business	3	541	4 751	24 956	524 117	149 734	2 016 144	23 800 000	4.77	109
Vehicles	30	11 979	24 956	50 000	179 033	100 000	300 267	68 200 000	13.54	794
Financial	1	45	100	300	82 353	1 583	79 011	101 000 000	22.21	3 269
Retirement annuity	39	230	701	1 808	266 791	130 232	981 000	15 000 000	5.07	146
Livestock	20	499	2 368	9 463	31 227	39 787	120 500	518 539	1.81	232
Total debts	1	321	1 216	4 404	99 576	18 232	314 681	59 900 000	15.39	1 683
Real estate	35	7 012	35 031	147 475	521 822	300 535	712 595	59 900 000	7.51	253
Business	1	95	1 002	5 000	18 341	8 000	104 514	200 178	2.26	29
Vehicles	160	8 014	20 000	50 104	135 823	103 936	350 312	3 040 247	2.55	159
Financial	5	299	1 001	3 055	8 846	8 114	33 050	409 665	2.59	1 519

Note: P10, 10th percentile; P25, 25th percentile; P50, 50th percentile; P75, 75th percentile; P95, 95th percentile.

Table 6: Gini coefficients of assets and debt variables

Assets/debts/income	Gini
Total assets	0.903
Total debts	0.840
Net worth	0.901
Income	0.699
Property assets	0.754
Retirement annuities	0.862
Financial assets	0.951
Property debt	0.506

Table 7: Quantile shares in net worth

Decile	Share (%)	Median value (Rand)
1	0.0	60
2	0.0	300
3	0.0	1 352
4	0.1	5 004
5	0.4	15 131
6	0.9	35 062
7	1.8	70 062
8	4.1	200 503
9	8.5	636 290
10	84.3	1 764 168

Figure 2: Portfolio of assets by household net worth decile (weighted)

Figure 3: Portfolio of liabilities by household net worth decile (weighted)

Figure 4: Portfolio of liabilities by age cohort (weighted)

Figure 5: Portfolio of assets by age cohort (weighted)

Table 8: Mean and median net worth by age of household head (weighted)

Age of household head	Mean (R×1000)	Median (R×1000)	Observations
15 to 24	137	5	299
25 to 34	132	4	871
35 to 44	236	18	1 228
45 to 54	398	20	1 324
55 to 64	267	25	1 026
65 to 74	267	15	611
75 and above	274	32	390

Figure 6: Non-parametric smoothing of weighted median net worth by age cohort

Aron, J, Muellbauer, J & Prinsloo, J, 2007. Balance sheet estimates for South Africa's household sector from 1975 to 2005. South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Working Paper WP/01/07, SARB, Pretoria.

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