| Economy - overview | 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 ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era - especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative but pragmatic focusing on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase job growth and household income. |
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| GDP | 1.7% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 5% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2.6%
industry: 30.3%
services: 67.1% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 50% (2000 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 45.9% (1994) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 59.3 (1995) |
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| Labor force | 16.09 million economically active (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 30%
industry: 25%
services: 45% (1999 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 25.5% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $72.15 billion
expenditures: $75.93 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 7.1% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 227.2 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 93.5%
hydro: 1.1%
nuclear: 5.5%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 207 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 12.4 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 8.026 billion kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 229,900 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 502,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - imports | 398,000 bbl/day (2006) |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 7.84 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
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| Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products |
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| Exports | $59.15 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment |
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| Exports - partners | Japan 9.9%, UK 9.7%, US 9.5%, Germany 6.5%, Netherlands 4.6% (2005) |
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| Imports | $61.53 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs |
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| Imports - partners | Germany 14.2%, China 9.1%, US 7.9%, Japan 6.8%, Canada 6.3%, UK 5.6%, France 4.5%, Iran 4.2% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $55.47 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $487.5 million (2000) |
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| Currency code | ZAR |
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| Exchange rates | rand per US dollar - 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March |
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