South Africa: Economy
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Income Level (by per capita GNI) Source: The World Bank Possible values: High Income, Upper Middle Income, Lower Middle Income and Low Income |
Upper Middle Income |
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Level of Development
Source: United Nations Possible values: Developed, In Transition and Developing |
Developing |
| Economic Trivia | South Africa has the largest economy in Africa. |
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Trade
Source: United Nations Comtrade Note: Top 3 trade partners are calculated by imports + exports. |
Top 3 Trade Partners (2017): China, Germany, and United States |
| Top Industries Source: CIA World Factbook | Mining (Platinum, Gold, Chromium); Automobile Assembly; Metalworking; Machinery |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [1]
| GDP, PPP (current international) | $767,166,964,845 (2017) |
| GDP Growth Rate (annual %) | 1.317% (2017) |
| GDP Per Capita, PPP (current international) | $13,526 (2017) |
GDP Country Rank 29/195 (2017)
Economic Indicators [1]
| Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) | 5.181% (2017) |
| External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) | $176,334,699,117 (2017) |
| Total tax rate (% of commercial profits) | 29.1% (2018) |
| Real Interest Rate (5 year average %) | 4.581% (2017) |
| Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) | 11.858% (2017) |
| Current Account Balance (BoP, current US$) | ($8,908,074,960) (2017) |
Labor and Employment [1]
| Labor Force, Total | 22,702,855 (2018) |
| Employment in Agriculture (% of total employment) | 5.157% (2018) |
| Employment in Industry (% of total employment) | 23.243% (2018) |
| Employment in Services (% of total employment) | 71.6% (2018) |
| Unemployment Rate | 26.958% (2018) |
Trade [1]
| Imports of goods and services (current US$) | $99,103,060,058 (2017) |
| Exports of goods and services (current US$) | $103,869,167,589 (2017) |
| Total Merchandise Trade (% of GDP) | 54.489% (2017) |
| FDI, net inflows (BoP, current US$) | $1,371,931,600 (2017) |
| Commercial Service Exports (current US$) | $15,375,801,006 (2017) |
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.