The figures tell a story that looks contradictory on the surface. 67% of South Africans say they often feel anxious about their lives, up seven percentage points from 60% in 2021. Over exactly the same period, the share who say they are happy with their lives has climbed from 69% to 79% – a 10-point jump. Anxiety and happiness are rising together, and for brands trying to stay relevant, understanding why matters more than treating either number in isolation.
The temptation is to read these as opposing forces, but they are not. What the data shows is that joy is no longer being held back for better times. For most people, it has become something to reach for in the middle of difficulty rather than after it – a coping mechanism, deliberately cultivated, rather than a reward that arrives once the pressure lifts. It is resilience, expressed not through gritted teeth but through small, daily investments in the things that feel good and feel true.
The numbers point clearly to where that investment is going, and it is inward. 82% of South Africans say they are trying to become a better person, and 77% are always on the lookout for new ideas to inspire them. The same proportion – 77% – agree that the things that make them unique are what make them beautiful, a quiet but powerful kind of self-acceptance.
There is optimism in the mix too. Nearly three-quarters (74%) say they feel confident and excited about their future, up from 71% in 2021, and 73% enjoy being creative and expressing themselves through their hobbies. Taken together, it paints a picture of joy that is personal and self-generated, rooted in identity, creativity and a real sense of progress, even when the world outside feels anything but settled.
One of the more revealing threads in the data is how South Africans relate to spontaneity. 70% say they are not afraid of change, and 69% describe themselves as spontaneous decision-makers who follow their instincts. Yet the share who say they actually enjoy taking risks has not moved at all – it has remained at 69% since 2021.
Spontaneity here is not the same as a bigger appetite for risk. It looks more like a shortened planning horizon - when the future feels genuinely uncertain, people lean into the present, making choices based on how they feel right now rather than committing to far-off plans. What can look like boldness is, on closer inspection, something closer to practicality – a preference for rewards that can be felt today over promises that may never arrive.
The same pull toward the immediate shows up in how people are relating to one another. Family remains the foundation, with 86% agreeing that family comes before everything else and 67% saying it matters more to them than their career, up slightly from 65% in 2021.
But the real movement is in friendship. In 2021, 20% of South Africans said their friends mattered more to them than their family. By 2026 that figure has reached 30% – a 10-point rise, and one of the largest single shifts in the dataset. This is not people turning away from family. It is people widening the circle they draw strength from. In a stretched, anxious moment, friendships are becoming a bigger part of how South Africans stay well.
For marketers and business leaders, there is a clear lesson buried in these numbers. South Africans are not waiting to be sold a better, far-off future. They are investing in the now – in creativity, in self-expression, in the people around them and in small moments of real enjoyment. The 61% who say they are happy with their standard of living, up from 58% in 2021, are not signalling that everything is fine. They are saying they have found a way to feel content where they are, and largely without leaning on grand promises to get there.
That should give pause to any brand still building its message around transformation, achievement and long-term payoff. The data suggests that version of consumer psychology is fading. The brands most likely to land are the ones that show up authentically in the everyday – that celebrate the small win and make their value felt in the moment, rather than parked in some imagined tomorrow.
Data sourced from YouGov Profiles+ South Africa, a segmentation and media planning tool that draws on data collected daily to build a comprehensive view of consumers’ lives. KLA is the exclusive authorised YouGov partner in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dataset: 17 May 2026, nationally representative sample (n = 20,543). 2021 comparison data extracted 16 May 2021, nationally representative sample (n = 5,777).
