South African households are worth a net R5.2-trillion (or R5221-billion). Impressive. Net wealth is equivalent to nearly five times household disposable income. This ratio has risen for five consecutive quarters

These figures are among the range of data the Reserve Bank now provides on local household balance sheets. This is extremely useful, and continues the excellent work the Reserve Bank has undertaken on the economy. The Reserve Bank data is world class, and far superior to that of many other countries, including many OECD countries.

According to the Reserve Bank, the value of household assets amounted to R6406-billion at the end of 2009. Most of this is in the form of financial assets (R4522-billion) including, for example, bank deposits, pensions funds, and unit trusts. The value of residential buildings amounted to R1592-billion.

In contrast, household debt totaled R1185-billion at the end of 2009. Most of the debt is in the form of mortgages (R753-billion). The remaining debt is represented by items such as car finance, overdrafts, personal loans, student loans, credit cards and so on.

Correspondingly, household net wealth (assets less liabilities) was equivalent to R5221-billion at the end of 2009. If durable consumer goods are included, household wealth rises to R5618-billion. The net worth of residential property is a healthy R840-billion.

Is the net wealth good or bad? First, SA household net wealth is on the rise and has increased noticeably over the past four quarters, helped by a rise in financial asset values (equities on the stock market) and house prices.

Importantly, this is a broad but positive relationship between increases in household wealth and increased consumer activity. Secondly, using the international convention of comparing net wealth with income, SA's net wealth is equivalent to 366% of disposable income. This is well above the recent low of 316% in Q1 2009 and above SA's long-term average of 337%. Using the US as an unfair comparison, their net wealth is currently equivalent to 472% of disposable income (although it has previously spiked to over 600%, when they created the hi-tech bubble and the more recent residential property bubble).

Overall, SA net wealth can be considered reasonable in the context of emerging markets. Of course, this says nothing about how unevenly wealth is distributed in SA. SA still has one of the world's worst levels of income inequality.