Economy of South Africa

Economy of South Africa

Johannesburg, the financial capital of South Africa
Currency	South African rand (ZAR, R)
Fiscal year	1 April – 31 March (government); 1 March – 28/29 February (corporate & private)
Trade organisations	AU, WTO, WHO, BRICS, IMF, AfCFTA, G-20, SACU and others
Country group	Developing country[1] Upper-middle income economy[2]
Statistics
Population	64.104 million (2024 est)[citation needed]
GDP	$418.05 billion (nominal, 2025 est.)[3] $1.03 trillion (PPP, 2025 est.)[4]
GDP rank	39th (nominal, Q3 2024) 33rd (PPP, Q3 2024)
GDP growth	0.6% (2023) 1.1% (2024) 1.5% (2025 est)[5]
GDP per capita	$6,520 (nominal, 2025 est)[6] $ 16,010 (PPP, 2025)[6]
GDP per capita rank	104th (nominal, Q3 2024) 106th (PPP, Q3 2024)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 2.5% industry: 25.6% services: 62.9% (2023 est.)[7]
Inflation (CPI)	4.5% (2025 est)[8]
Population below poverty line	20.5 % on less than $2.15/day (2024 est)[9]
Gini coefficient	61.8 very high (2021)[10]
Human Development Index	0.717 high (2022)[11] (110th) 0.462 low IHDI (2022, 110th rank)[11]
Corruption Perceptions Index	41 out of 100 points (2023, 83rd rank)
Labour force	25,158,403 (2024)[12]
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 19.26% industry: 18.08% services: 62.66% (2022)[13]
Unemployment	33.9% unemployment (2025 est.)[14] 60.8% youth unemployment (15 to 24 year-olds; Q2 2024 est.)[15]
Main industries	mining (world's largest producer of platinum group metals, gold, chromium), automobile manufacturing, metalworking, technology, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, IT, chemicals, fertiliser, foodstuffs, manufacturing, commercial ship repair.
External
Exports	$147 billion (2022)[16]
Export goods	gold, diamonds, wines, iron ore, platinum, nonferrous metals, electronics, machinery and manufactured equipment, motor vehicles, fruits, various agricultural foodstuffs, ground and air military hardware.
Main export partners	China 15.9%  United States 13.1%  Germany 6.77%  India 6.22%  Japan 6.02% (2022)[17]
Imports	$113 billion (2022)[18]
Import goods	machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs, cars, gold
Main import partners	China 20.1%  Germany 8.7%  India 7.38%  United States 5.42%  Saudi Arabia 3.99%  UAE 3.86% (2022)[19]
FDI stock	$156.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[20] Abroad: $270.3 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[20]
Current account	−$1.046 billion (2023 Q3 est.)[21]
Gross external debt	$156.1 billion ( 2023 est.)[22]
Public finances
Government debt	75.8% of GDP (2024 est.)[23]
Budget balance	−4.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[20]
Revenues	$122.49 billion (2022 est.)
Expenses	$139.28 billion (2022 est.)
Credit rating	S&P Global Ratings:[24] BB Outlook: Positive Moody's:[25] Ba2 Outlook: Stable Fitch:[26] BB- Outlook: Stable Scope Ratings:[27] BB Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves	$63.633 billion (Sep 2024 est)[28]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of South Africa is the largest economy in Africa, it is a mixed economy, emerging market, and upper-middle-income economy, one of only eight such countries in Africa.^[29][30][31] The economy is the most industrialised, technologically advanced, and diversified in Africa.^[32] Following 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, South Africa's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) almost tripled to a peak of US$416 billion in 2011. In the same period, foreign exchange reserves increased from US$3 billion to nearly US$50 billion, creating a diversified economy with a growing and sizable middle class, within three decades of ending apartheid.^[33][34]

Although the natural resource extraction industry remains one of the largest in the country with an annual contribution to the GDP of US$13.5 billion,^[35] the economy of South Africa has diversified since the end of apartheid, particularly towards services. In 2019, the financial industry contributed US$41.4 billion to South Africa's GDP.^[36] In 2021, South Africa-based financial institutions managed more than US$1.41 trillion in assets.^[37] The total market capitalization of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is US$1.28 trillion as of October 2021.^[38]

The state-owned enterprises of South Africa play a significant role in the country's economy, with the government owning a share in around 700 SOEs involved in a wide array of important industries. In 2016 according to business executives, the top five challenges to doing business in the country were inefficient government bureaucracy, restrictive labour regulations, a shortage of skilled workers for some high-tech industries, political instability, and corruption. On the other hand, the country's banking sector was rated as a strongly positive feature of the economy.^[39][40] The nation is among the G20, and is the only African country that is a permanent member of the group.^[41]