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Economy Live

The South African economy

Rates, the rand, prices, jobs and growth — live where the source is live, every figure with its official source and the period it covers.

Rand per US dollar · ECB reference rateR16.56▼ 5.2% over 1y

Jobs & growth

How fast the economy grows, and how many people it leaves without work.

Unemployment, official33.6%Q2 2026 · Stats SA
GDP growth, latest quarter-0.2%Q2 2026 · Stats SA
Youth unemployment (15–24)60%2025 · World Bank / ILO
GDP per personUS$6 5982025 · World Bank
GDP growth by yearWorld Bank
1994: 3.2%1995: 3.1%1996: 4.3%1997: 2.6%1998: 0.5%1999: 2.4%2000: 4.2%2001: 2.7%2002: 3.7%2003: 3.0%2004: 4.5%2005: 5.3%2006: 5.6%2007: 5.4%2008: 3.2%2009: -1.5%2010: 3.0%2011: 3.2%2012: 2.4%2013: 2.5%2014: 1.4%2015: 1.3%2016: 0.7%2017: 1.2%2018: 1.6%2019: 0.3%2020: -6.2%2021: 4.9%2022: 2.1%2023: 0.8%2024: 0.5%2025: 1.1%
6.2% · −6.2%1994 → 2025
Unemployment by yearWorld Bank / ILO
1994-12-31: 23.1%1995-12-31: 22.7%1996-12-31: 22.5%1997-12-31: 22.6%1998-12-31: 22.7%1999-12-31: 22.9%2000-12-31: 22.8%2001-12-31: 22.6%2002-12-31: 22.6%2003-12-31: 22.7%2004-12-31: 22.6%2005-12-31: 22.5%2006-12-31: 22.3%2007-12-31: 22.3%2008-12-31: 22.4%2009-12-31: 23.5%2010-12-31: 24.7%2011-12-31: 24.6%2012-12-31: 24.7%2013-12-31: 24.6%2014-12-31: 24.9%2015-12-31: 25.1%2016-12-31: 26.5%2017-12-31: 27.0%2018-12-31: 26.9%2019-12-31: 28.5%2020-12-31: 29.2%2021-12-31: 34.0%2022-12-31: 33.3%2023-12-31: 32.1%2024-12-31: 32.3%2025-12-31: 32.4%
32.9% · 28.1% · 23.4%1994-12 → 2025-12

Sources

Policy rates: South African Reserve Bank. Inflation, unemployment, GDP: Stats SA. Fuel: Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. Daily exchange rates: European Central Bank reference rates via Frankfurter; live rand figures: ExchangeRate-API. Yearly series: World Bank Open Data. Business activity: Business.co.za’s own directory and news index.