![]() Johannesburg, the financial capital of South Africa | |
Currency | South African rand (ZAR, R) |
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Trade organisations | AU, WTO, WHO, BRICS, IMF, AfCFTA, G-20, SACU and others |
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Population | ![]() |
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GDP per capita | |
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Population below poverty line | ![]() |
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Labour force | |
Labour force by occupation |
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Unemployment | |
Main industries | mining (world's largest producer of platinum group metals, gold, chromium), automobile manufacturing, metalworking, technology, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, IT, chemicals, fertiliser, foodstuffs, manufacturing, commercial ship repair. |
External | |
Exports | ![]() |
Export goods | gold, diamonds, wines, iron ore, platinum, nonferrous metals, electronics, machinery and manufactured equipment, motor vehicles, fruits, various agricultural foodstuffs, ground and air military hardware. |
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Import goods | machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs, cars, gold |
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FDI stock | |
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Gross external debt | ![]() |
Public finances | |
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−4.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[17] | |
Revenues | $122.49 billion (2022 est.) |
Expenses | $139.28 billion (2022 est.) |
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All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. |
The economy of South Africa is a mixed economy, emerging market, and upper-middle-income economy, one of only eight such countries in Africa.[26][27][28] The economy is the most industrialised, technologically advanced, and diversified in Africa.[29] Following 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, South Africa's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) almost tripled to a peak of US$416 billion in 2011. In the same period, foreign exchange reserves increased from US$3 billion to nearly US$50 billion, creating a diversified economy with a growing and sizable middle class, within three decades of ending apartheid.[30][31]
Although the natural resource extraction industry remains one of the largest in the country with an annual contribution to the GDP of US$13.5 billion,[32] the economy of South Africa has diversified since the end of apartheid, particularly towards services. In 2019, the financial industry contributed US$41.4 billion to South Africa's GDP.[33] In 2021, South Africa-based financial institutions managed more than US$1.41 trillion in assets.[34] The total market capitalization of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is US$1.28 trillion as of October 2021.[35]
The state-owned enterprises of South Africa play a significant role in the country's economy, with the government owning a share in around 700 SOEs involved in a wide array of important industries. In 2016 according to business executives, the top five challenges to doing business in the country were inefficient government bureaucracy, restrictive labour regulations, a shortage of skilled workers for some high-tech industries, political instability, and corruption. On the other hand, the country's banking sector was rated as a strongly positive feature of the economy.[36][37] The nation is among the G20, and is the only African country that is a permanent member of the group.[38]
CIA World Fact Book - South Africa
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