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ZA

South Africa

ZA · ZAF · #24 · 36 cities

Nomad score 57/100 Compare

Key indicators

GDP per capita (PPP) (2031)
$19,827
GDP (2031)
$578.0B
GDP growth (2031)
1.8% →
Inflation (2031)
3.0% →
Unemployment (2031)
31.9% ↓
Population (2031)
68.5M
Population growth (2031)
1.4% →
Gini index (2022)
54.1
Government debt (2031)
82.6% of GDP
Current account (2031)
-1.8% of GDP
FDI inflows (2025)
-$2.2B
Life expectancy (2024)
66.3 yrs
Health spending (2023)
8.9% of GDP
Internet users (2024)
78.4%
Mobile subscriptions (2024)
179.3/100
Trade openness (2025)
60.9% of GDP
Exchange rate (2025)
17.89/USD
Foreign reserves (2025)
$76.0B
Source: World Bank + IMF World Economic Outlook. Most recent data: 2031.

GDP overview

Nominal GDP and real growth. Dashed = IMF forecast.

GDP per capita (PPP)

Purchasing power parity adjusted, in international dollars

Inflation (CPI)

Unemployment

ILO modeled estimate

Population

Fiscal and trade

Government debt (2031)
82.6% of GDP
Current account (2031)
-1.8% of GDP
FDI inflows (2025)
-$2.2B

Income inequality (Gini)

Gini index (2022)
0.54
Assessment
Very high inequality
Source: World Bank PIP via OWID. 0 = perfect equality, 1 = maximum inequality.

Business environment

New business density (2024)
11.46/1k
Tax revenue (2024)
25.9% of GDP
Services sector (2025)
63.1% of GDP

Financial access and costs

ATMs per 100k (2024)
46.0
Bank branches per 100k (2024)
8.0
ICT service exports (2025)
9.5%
Goods and services tax (2024)
10.8%

Historical data

Historical economic data
Year GDP GDP/cap PPP Growth Inflation Unemp. Population Gini Debt Curr. acct FDI Life exp. Health Internet FX rate
2031 * $578.0B $19,827 1.8% 3.0% 31.9% 68.5M - 82.6% -1.8% - - - - -
2030 * $555.3B $19,310 1.8% 3.0% 32.0% 67.6M - 82.2% -1.8% - - - - -
2029 * $533.3B $18,802 1.7% 3.0% 32.1% 66.6M - 81.7% -1.7% - - - - -
2028 * $513.1B $18,337 1.5% 3.0% 32.2% 65.7M - 80.9% -1.6% - - - - -
2027 * $494.4B $17,914 1.3% 3.4% 32.4% 64.9M - 79.7% -1.4% - - - - -
2026 * $480.0B $17,630 1.0% 3.9% 32.5% 64.0M - 78.9% -0.9% - - - - -
2025 $427.1B $15,906 1.1% 3.2% 32.4% 63.1M - 78.6% -0.5% -$2.2B - - - 17.89
2024 $401.1B $15,479 0.5% 4.4% 32.6% 62.3M - 76.0% -0.7% $2.3B 66.3 - 78.4% 18.33
2023 $381.3B $15,212 0.8% 5.9% 32.4% 61.6M - 73.2% -1.1% $3.9B 66.1 8.9% 78.3% 18.45
2022 $407.4B $14,747 2.1% 6.9% 33.5% 60.9M 54.1 70.7% -0.3% $9.2B 65.5 8.8% 78.3% 16.36
2021 $419.9B $13,682 4.9% 4.6% 34.3% 60.2M - 68.8% 3.7% $40.7B 62.0 8.7% 75.0% 14.78
2020 $337.9B $12,671 -6.2% 3.3% 29.2% 59.7M - 68.9% 2.0% $3.2B 65.2 9.0% 72.1% 16.46
2019 $389.2B $13,361 0.3% 4.1% 28.7% 58.9M - 56.1% -2.6% $5.1B 66.1 8.3% 69.7% 14.45
2018 $405.1B $13,347 1.6% 4.6% 27.1% 58.0M - 51.5% -2.9% $5.6B 65.7 8.1% 62.4% 13.23
2017 $381.3B $13,738 1.2% 5.3% 27.5% 57.2M - 48.6% -2.4% $2.1B 65.4 8.0% 56.2% 13.32
2016 $323.5B $13,519 0.7% 6.3% 26.7% 56.4M - 47.1% -2.7% $2.2B 64.8 8.1% 54.0% 14.71
2015 $346.7B $13,398 1.3% 4.6% 25.4% 55.7M - 45.2% -4.3% $1.5B 64.1 8.1% 51.9% 12.76
2014 $381.2B $13,359 1.4% 6.1% 25.1% 54.8M 59.6 43.3% -4.8% $5.8B 63.2 7.9% 49.0% 10.85
2013 $400.9B $13,369 2.5% 5.7% 24.7% 54.0M - 40.4% -5.3% $8.2B 62.4 8.1% 46.5% 9.66
2012 $434.4B $12,987 2.4% 5.7% 24.9% 53.1M - 37.4% -4.7% $4.6B 61.7 8.0% 41.0% 8.21
2011 $458.7B $13,143 3.2% 5.0% 24.8% 52.3M - 34.7% -2.0% $4.1B 60.6 7.9% 34.0% 7.26
2010 $417.3B $12,637 3.0% 4.2% 24.9% 51.5M 60.9 31.2% -1.3% $3.7B 58.9 7.8% 24.0% 7.32
2009 $331.2B $12,261 -1.5% 7.2% 23.7% 50.8M - 27.0% -2.4% $7.6B 57.4 7.7% 10.0% 8.47
2008 $316.5B $12,525 3.2% 10.9% 22.5% 50.1M 62.5 24.0% -5.0% $9.9B 56.0 7.2% 8.4% 8.26
2007 $332.7B $12,047 5.4% 7.1% 23.0% 49.4M - 24.3% -4.8% $6.6B 55.0 6.9% 8.1% 7.05
2006 $304.1B $11,250 5.6% 4.7% 23.6% 48.6M - 28.0% -4.0% $623.3M 54.2 6.9% 7.6% 6.77
2005 $288.7B $10,441 5.3% 3.4% 24.7% 48.1M 65.0 29.6% -2.8% $6.5B 53.9 6.9% 7.5% 6.36
Source: World Bank + IMF World Economic Outlook. * = IMF forecast.

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