Economic Trivia

South Africa has the largest economy in Africa.

Trade Source: United Nations Comtrade
Note: Top 3 trade partners are calculated by imports + exports.

Top 3 Trade Partners (2021): China, United States, and Germany
Top 3 Exported Goods (2021): Precious Stones & Metals, Ores, and Motor Vehicles & Parts

Top Industries Source: CIA World Factbook

Mining (Platinum, Gold, Chromium); Automobile Assembly; Metalworking; Machinery

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [1]

GDP, PPP (current international) $952,603,158,774 (2022)
GDP Growth Rate (annual %) 2.042% (2022)
GDP Per Capita, PPP (current international) $15,905 (2022)
Click on a row to display its 5-year graph on the right.

GDP Country Rank 32/197 (2022)

GDP Composition %

Note: GDP composition percentage may exceed 100. Manufacturing is included in the Industry figures and is also reported separately because it plays a critical role in many economies.

Economic Indicators [1]

Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) 7.04% (2022)
External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) $170,015,396,603 (2021)
Total tax rate (% of commercial profits) 29.2% (2019)
Real Interest Rate (5 year average %) 3.558% (2022)
Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) 12.044% (2022)
Current Account Balance (BoP, current US$) ($1,788,749,961) (2022)
Click on a row to display its 5-year graph on the right.

Labor and Employment [1]

Labor Force, Total 24,308,964 (2022)
Employment in Agriculture (% of total employment) 21.296% (2021)
Employment in Industry (% of total employment) 17.258% (2021)
Employment in Services (% of total employment) 61.445% (2021)
Unemployment Rate 29.806% (2022)
Click on a row to display its 5-year graph on the right.

Trade [1]

Imports of goods and services (current US$) $127,706,819,421 (2022)
Exports of goods and services (current US$) $135,738,546,729 (2022)
Total Merchandise Trade (% of GDP) 63.84% (2022)
FDI, net inflows (BoP, current US$) $9,194,808,416 (2022)
Commercial Service Exports (current US$) $12,366,241,811 (2022)
Click on a row to display its 5-year graph on the right.

Economic Snapshot [1]

Note: Percentile ranks are calculated using the latest available data for all countries within the last 5 years.

How to interpret the graph: The purpose of this graph is to take a snapshot of a country’s economy in comparison to other economies. For example, South Africa’s Exports rank is higher than (please wait...) of the countries in the dataset. For Exports, FDI and GDP measures, a higher rank (closer to 100%) indicates a stronger economy. Conversely, for Unemployment and Inflation, a lower rank (closer to 0%) indicates a stronger economy.

Due to unavailable data the following indicators have been omitted:
  • Exports
  • FDI, net inflows
  • GDP Growth Rate
  • GDP Per Capita
  • Inflation
  • Unemployment

Sources

  1. The World Bank