South Africa's Vital Signs

Economic output

$377,780,000,000

South Africa's GDP over the past year

$6,090.28 per person

Source: TradingEconomics.com  | The data above reflect both the South African economy's performance and the strength of the Rand against the US Dollar. Economic output dipped significantly during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns in 2020.

Government debt

$73,810,000,000

South Africa's long-term government debt

$1,189.91 per person

Source: TradingEconomics.com  | As with GDP, the above data is influenced by the Rand-US Dollar exchange rate. There has been a significant increase in government debt over the past decade, particularly since 2016.

Value of the Rand

R18.11

ZAR per USD

Source: South African Reserve Bank (SARB)

Population

62,030,000

People in South Africa

Source: TradingEconomics.com

Unemployment

32.9 %

South Africa's unemployment rate over the past quarter

Sources: Unemployment (blue) from TradingEconomics.com ; "Broader" unemployment (white) — the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force (LU3) — from the International Labour Organization  | The dip in unemployment in 2020 was due to the "national lockdown that impeded people’s ability to actively search for work, together with a number of classification and measurement challenges encountered by [...] StatsSA". (Reuters)

Electricity

18,717,000,000 kWh

South Africa's electricity production for the past month

51.3 kWh per resident

Source: TradingEconomics.com  | Because residential electricity consumption in South Africa only accounts for 17% of the total consumption, the per capita figure above is adjusted to estimate the electricity produced per resident, on average. (UCT)

Violent crime

653,659

Violent crimes reported to SAPS in the past 12 months

10.54 crimes per 1000 residents

Source: South African Police Service (SAPS)  | Crime statistics are reported from April one year to March the next year (SAPS' financial year). The data points above are at the end of the year. The projected data point in this graph is our own linear projection, assuming a continuation of the trend between the previous two data points.

Business confidence

35

Local business' confidence sentiment, out of a 100

Source: TradingEconomics.com  | In the business confidence index, a score of 50 is neutral, whereas 0 signals a total lack of confidence in South Africa and 100 signals complete confidence in the country. Over the past decade, local businesses have been neutral (52, in 2014) about South Africa at best. The dip in business confidence in 2020 is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns.

Foreign investment

$29,000,000

South Africa's FDI for the past quarter

$0.47 per person

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)  | The large jump in FDI in the third quarter of 2021 was "mainly due to technology investor Prosus [headquartered in The Netherlands] buying about 45% of its South African parent Naspers." (Reuters) If the trend of a significant dip at the beginning of 2023 from the last quarter of 2022 continues, South Africa will have negative FDI.

International exports

0.4 %

South Africa's exports as a percentage of global exports for the past year

Source: The World Bank

Salaries

$821

Average monthly salary

16,745,000 employed people

Sources: Salary data from BankservAfrica Take-Home Pay Index ; Employed people from TradingEconomics.com  | The projected data point in this graph is our own linear projection, assuming a continuation of the trend between the previous two data points.The source data is in ZAR and was converted at a constant 2023 USD-ZAR rate (R17.0707/$).

Cost of food basket

$307.71

Cost of household food basket for the last month

Source: Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD)  | The source data is in ZAR and was converted at a constant 2023 USD-ZAR rate (R17.0707/$). The indicated future values are our own simple linear projection.

Property growth

2.44%

South African property price growth

Source: TradingEconomics.com  | Property price growth has gradually slowed down over the past decade, with a temporary dip during the first wave and lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth in property prices can be taken as a proxy for demand, which can in turn be interpreted as a signal of property buyers' confidence in the country. The indicated projection is our own simple linear projection.

Net personal wealth

$23,389.77

Average net personal wealth

Source: World Inequality Database (WID)  | The projected data point in this graph is our own linear projection, assuming a continuation of the trend between the previous two data points.