| Economy | South Africa |
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Economy - overview:
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South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that is 17th largest in the world; and modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. Growth was robust from 2004 to 2008 as South Africa reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom, but began to slow in the second half of 2008 due to the global financial crisis' impact on commodity prices and demand. However, unemployment remains high and outdated infrastructure has constrained growth. At the end of 2007, South Africa began to experience an electricity crisis because state power supplier Eskom suffered supply problems with aged plants, necessitating "load-shedding" cuts to residents and businesses in the major cities. Daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era - especially poverty, lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups, and a shortage of public transportation. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative but pragmatic, focusing on controlling inflation, maintaining a budget surplus, and using state-owned enterprises to deliver basic services to low-income areas as a means to increase job growth and household income. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$489.7 billion (2008 est.)
$476.4 billion (2007)
$453.3 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$10,000 (2008 est.)
$9,800 (2007 est.)
$9,500 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$300.4 billion (2008 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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2.8% (2008 est.)
5.1% (2007 est.)
5.3% (2006 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 31.3%
services: 65.3% (2008 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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20.1% of GDP (2008 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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50% (2000 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 44.7% (2000) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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65 (2005) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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11.3% (2008 est.) |
Central bank discount rate:
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11% (31 December 2007) |
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
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13.17% (31 December 2007) |
Stock of money:
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$58.49 billion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of money - per capita:
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1,193 USD per capita |
Stock of quasi money:
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$141.9 billion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of quasi money - per capita:
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2,893 USD per capita |
Stock of domestic credit:
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$254.9 billion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of domestic credit - per capita:
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5,197 USD per capita |
Labor force:
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18.22 million economically active (2008 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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37.14 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 9%
industry: 26%
services: 65% (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate:
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21.7% (2008 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $83.85 billion
expenditures: $83.3 billion (2008 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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1,710 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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29.9% of GDP (2008 est.) |
Industries:
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mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair |
Industrial production growth rate:
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3.8% (2008 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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264 billion kWh (2007) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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5,382 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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241.4 billion kWh (2007) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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4,922 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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13.77 billion kWh (2006 est.) |
Electricity - imports:
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11.32 billion kWh (2007) |
Oil - production:
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199,100 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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4,059 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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504,900 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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3.76 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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267,700 bbl/day (2005) |
Oil - imports:
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319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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2.9 billion cu m (2006 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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60 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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3.1 billion cu m (2006 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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64 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2005) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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27.16 million cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products |
Current account balance:
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-$21.67 billion (2008 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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-441 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$81.47 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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1,661 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment |
Exports - partners:
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US 11.9%, Japan 11.1%, Germany 8%, UK 7.7%, China 6.6%, Netherlands 4.5% (2007) |
Imports:
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$87.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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1,780 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners:
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Germany 10.9%, China 10%, Spain 8.2%, US 7.2%, Japan 6.1%, UK 4.5%, Saudi Arabia 4.2% (2007) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$33.59 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
|
685 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$39.69 billion (31 December 2008 est.) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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810 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$99.61 billion (2008 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home - per capita:
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2,031 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$57.08 billion (2008 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad - per capita:
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1,164 USD per capita |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$842 billion (January 2008) |
Market value of publicly traded shares - per capita:
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17,166 USD per capita |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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$700 million (2005) |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
|
15 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
|
rand (ZAR) |
Exchange rates:
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rand (ZAR) per US dollar - 7.9576 (2008 est.), 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004) |
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31 March |
|
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