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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

Trade & investment

What the country sells and buys abroad, what it borrows, and what investors bring in — as a share of GDP.

Exports, % of GDPWorld Bank
1994-12-31: 19.6%1995-12-31: 20.0%1996-12-31: 21.8%1997-12-31: 21.7%1998-12-31: 22.5%1999-12-31: 22.3%2000-12-31: 24.4%2001-12-31: 26.4%2002-12-31: 28.4%2003-12-31: 23.9%2004-12-31: 22.8%2005-12-31: 23.6%2006-12-31: 26.1%2007-12-31: 28.0%2008-12-31: 32.3%2009-12-31: 25.0%2010-12-31: 25.8%2011-12-31: 27.7%2012-12-31: 27.1%2013-12-31: 28.4%2014-12-31: 29.0%2015-12-31: 27.7%2016-12-31: 28.2%2017-12-31: 27.3%2018-12-31: 27.5%2019-12-31: 27.2%2020-12-31: 27.6%2021-12-31: 31.2%2022-12-31: 33.5%2023-12-31: 33.3%2024-12-31: 31.8%2025-12-31: 31.4%
32.2% · 26.5% · 20.9%1994-12 → 2025-12
Current account balance, % of GDPWorld Bank
1994: 0.0%1995: -1.4%1996: -1.0%1997: -1.3%1998: -1.4%1999: -0.5%2000: -0.1%2001: 0.3%2002: 0.8%2003: -0.8%2004: -2.5%2005: -2.8%2006: -4.0%2007: -4.9%2008: -5.2%2009: -2.4%2010: -1.3%2011: -2.0%2012: -4.7%2013: -5.3%2014: -4.8%2015: -4.3%2016: -2.6%2017: -2.4%2018: -3.0%2019: -2.6%2020: 2.0%2021: 3.8%2022: -0.3%2023: -1.1%2024: -0.6%2025: -0.4%
5.3% · −5.3%1994 → 2025
Foreign direct investment in, % of GDPWorld Bank
1994: 0.2%1995: 0.7%1996: 0.5%1997: 2.3%1998: 0.4%1999: 1.0%2000: 0.6%2001: 5.4%2002: 1.1%2003: 0.4%2004: 0.3%2005: 2.3%2006: 0.2%2007: 2.0%2008: 3.1%2009: 2.3%2010: 0.9%2011: 0.9%2012: 1.1%2013: 2.0%2014: 1.5%2015: 0.4%2016: 0.7%2017: 0.5%2018: 1.4%2019: 1.3%2020: 0.9%2021: 9.7%2022: 2.3%2023: 1.0%2024: 0.6%2025: -0.5%
9.7% · −9.7%1994 → 2025
Government debt, % of GDPWorld Bank
1994-12-31: 45%1995-12-31: 45%1996-12-31: 44%1997-12-31: 43%1998-12-31: 45%1999-12-31: 42%2000-12-31: 40%2015-12-31: 53%2016-12-31: 54%2017-12-31: 56%2018-12-31: 59%2019-12-31: 65%2020-12-31: 76%2021-12-31: 74%2022-12-31: 76%2023-12-31: 79%2024-12-31: 83%
79% · 61% · 44%1994-12 → 2024-12

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.