| People | 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 has been robust since 2004, as South Africa has reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom. However, unemployment remains high and outdated infrastructure has constrained growth.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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$467.6 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$274.5 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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5% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$10,600 (2007 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 27%
services: 70.9% (2007 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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21% of GDP (2007 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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6.5% (2007 est.) |
Labor force:
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20.49 million economically active (2007 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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46.80 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 9%
industry: 26%
services: 65% (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate:
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24.2% (2007 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $68.2 billion
expenditures: $66.7 billion (2007 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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1,558 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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28% of GDP (2007 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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6.2% (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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264 billion kWh (2007) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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6,030 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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241.4 billion kWh (2007) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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5,514 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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13.42 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports:
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11.32 billion kWh (2007) |
Oil - production:
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200,000 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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4,568 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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519,000 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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4.33 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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217,700 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - imports:
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319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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15 million bbl (1 January 2007 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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2.11 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
|
49 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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2.11 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
|
49 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2005 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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-$20.06 billion (2007 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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-458 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$71.52 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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1,634 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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Japan 12.1%, US 11.8%, UK 9%, Germany 7.6%, Netherlands 5.3%, China 4% (2006) |
Imports:
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$76.59 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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1,750 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 12.6%, China 10%, US 7.6%, Japan 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 5.3%, UK 5% (2006) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$32.98 billion (31 December 2007) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
|
754 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$64.8 billion (30 September 2007) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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1,480 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$90.4 billion (2006) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$52.35 billion (2006) |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$842 billion (January 2008) |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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$700 million (2005) |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
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16 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
|
rand (ZAR) |
Exchange rates:
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rand per US dollar - 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003) |
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31 March |
|
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