South Africa: Unemployment Rises Despite Growth
South Africa faces the conundrum of widening income disparities even in times of rising growth.
South Africa GDP and Economic Data
Includes South Africa real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about South Africa economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of South Africa best banks and safest banks are also available.
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International Reserves
USD 51.6 billion (2018)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 368.1 billion (2018, estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2019
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GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 789.4 billion (2018, estimate)
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Real GDP growth
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| 1.8% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 0.8% |
*Estimate
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 2.2%
- industry: 26%
- services: 61.4%
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
0.8% (2015)
OECD, retrieved October 2019
Inflation
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| 4.6% | 6.3% | 5.3% | 4.6% | 4.4% |
*Estimate
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Unemployment rate
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| 25.4% | 26.7% | 27.5% | 27.1% | 27.9% |
*Estimate
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Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| 49.3% | 51.5% | 53% | 56.7% | 59.9% |
*Estimate
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Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018* |
| -4.8% | -4.1% | -4.4% | -4.4% | -6.2% |
*Estimate
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Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: BB
Moody's: Baa3
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (Updated January 2017)
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Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 951.3 billion | USD 1,231.0 billion | USD 865.3 billion |
Largest companies
Standard Bank Group, Steinhoff International, Sasol, FirstRand, MTN Group, Naspers, Sanlam, Bidvest Group, Shoprite Holdings, Remgro, Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, MMI Holdings, RMB Holdings.
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-3.5 % (2018 estimate)
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Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
29.9% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.48% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
0.27% (2018)
Export commodities
Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
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Import commodities
Machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs
Exports - major partners
China 9.5%, US 7.7%, Germany 7.1%, Japan 4.7%, India 4.6%, Botswana 4.3%, Namibia 4.1% (2017)
Imports - major partners
China 18.3%, Germany 11.9%, US 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 4.7%, India 4.7% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 2,235 million | USD 2,007 million | USD 5,334 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 4,474 million | USD 7,366 million | USD 4,552 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 559 million | USD 5,877 million | USD -721 million | USD 3,578 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )
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Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 84 out of 190 countries (2019)
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 139 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 98 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 114 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 108 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 80 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 13 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 54 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 145 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 102 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 68 out of 190 countries
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Global competitiveness ranking
60 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 102 / Score: 58.3 (Mostly unfree) (2019)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
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Capital
Pretoria (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)
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Languages
IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans (official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%, Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga (official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official) 2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.)
Religions
Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%), Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 42.87 million | 47.01 million | 49.55 million | 51.02 million | 52.06 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 27.7% | 56.7% | 79.6% | 81.5% |
Literacy
Total population: 94.3%
Male: 95.5%
Female: 93.1% (2015 est.)
(age 15 and over can read and write)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
13.1% (2011)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
63.4 (2011)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
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Freedom House rating
Political Rights: 2
Civil Liberties: 2 (2017)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
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Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed 7.75% Mobile 164.51% (2015)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Mercer Cost of living index
Johannesburg: 205th
Cape Town: 208th
(2016)
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