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South Africa

Updated: July 2026
 
ECONOMICS
DEMOGRAPHICS
E.S.G.
Economics sections:    GDP DATA QUALITY   /   GDP SIZE   /   GDP GROWTH   /   WEALTH   /   INEQUALITY   /   DEBT

 
GDP DATA QUALITY

Data Quality Ratings are derived from scores in five areas: Base year recency; System of National Accounts framework version; Informal economy size; Statistical resources available; and likelihood of Government interference. Scores are based on a 0-100 scale. Read more...


GDP Data Quality Ratings
Index: 0 = Extremely poor quality, 100 = Good as it gets
Ranked by Data Quality Index
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Country
 Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Index, 0-100)		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 Base
Year
Chained/Year		 SNA
Framework
Version		 Informal
Economy
% of GDP		 Statistical
Resources
Index (0-100)		 Governance
Levels
Index (0-100)





Ghana 83 68.7 C 2013 2008 35.0 63.6 61.8
Rwanda 84 68.4 C 2017 2008 29.5 60.0 41.7
Trinidad and Tobago 85 68.4 C 2012 2008 25.4 51.9 60.1
Algeria 86 68.3 C Chained 2008 27.9 41.4 29.1
Ecuador 87 68.3 C 2018 2008 32.5 63.0 39.3
Guatemala 88 68.3 C Chained 2008 43.7 64.4 31.1
Indonesia 89 68.3 C 2010 2008 23.7 71.8 45.1
Senegal 90 68.3 C 2014 2008 35.9 67.0 54.2
South Africa 91 68.1 C 2015 2008 24.4 33.6 63.6
China 92 68.0 C 2020 2008 12.1 41.0 21.7
Albania 93 67.4 C Chained 1993 29.8 69.8 50.9
Benin 94 67.1 C Chained 2008 49.1 53.9 42.4
Malawi 95 66.9 C 2017 2008 34.0 48.9 51.9
Kuwait 96 66.6 C 2010 2008 15.4 57.3 39.0
Azerbaijan 97 66.2 C Chained 2008 42.0 64.2 18.3
Cote d'Ivoire 98 65.9 C 2015 2008 35.3 57.0 46.8
Panama 99 65.8 C Chained 1993 40.0 74.4 53.7

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Rating definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality

The index calculations and displayed data are derived from the most current and up-to-date source data available.
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GDP SIZE

GDP Size data is shown in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data. Read more...


Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Ranked by GDP: 2025
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 2025
Estimate
Billions, PPP Int$		 2030
Estimate
Billions, PPP Int$		 Share of
Global GDP
%, 2025




Pakistan 23 D $2,096 $2,465 1.0%
Poland 24 A $2,042 $2,436 0.9%
Australia 25 A $1,851 $2,097 0.9%
Philippines 26 C $1,824 $2,398 0.8%
Malaysia 27 B $1,766 $2,229 0.8%
Argentina 28 C $1,702 $1,966 0.8%
Taiwan 29 A $1,639 $1,964 0.8%
Netherlands 30 A $1,393 $1,572 0.6%
South Africa 31 C $1,308 $1,430 0.6%
Colombia 32 B $1,283 $1,577 0.6%
Kazakhstan 33 C $1,029 $1,260 0.5%
Romania 34 B $1,000 $1,162 0.5%
Algeria 35 C $956 $1,125 0.4%
United Arab Emirates 36 B $953 $1,199 0.4%
Singapore 37 A $895 $1,096 0.4%
Belgium 38 A $877 $995 0.4%
Peru 39 D $857 $1,032 0.4%

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Grade definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality


GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Share of Global GDP expressed as a percentage of the sum of GDP for all countries in the World Economics database.

Projections for 2030 are made by applying IMF growth rates for 2025 and 2026, with the 5-Year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) applied thereafter to extrapolate the data to 2030.
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GDP GROWTH

Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) are derived from GDP Data in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.


Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last 10-years
Ranked by CAGR: 10-Year
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 CAGR
10 Year
2015-2025		 CAGR
5 Year
2020-2025		 CAGR
3 Year
2022-2025		 Share of
Global Growth
Percentage




Mexico 135 C 1.1% 3.0% 1.8% 0.7%
Italy 136 A 1.0% 3.1% 0.7% 0.6%
Tunisia 137 C 0.9% 2.2% 1.1% 0.0%
Angola 138 E 0.8% 3.0% 2.8% 0.1%
Brunei 139 C 0.8% 0.9% 2.6% 0.0%
Myanmar 140 E 0.8% -1.5% 0.4% 0.1%
Argentina 141 C 0.7% 3.5% 0.6% 0.2%
Germany 142 A 0.7% 0.9% -0.4% 0.7%
South Africa 143 C 0.7% 1.9% 0.9% 0.2%
Japan 144 A 0.5% 1.3% 0.9% 0.5%
Kuwait 145 C 0.5% 1.4% -0.3% 0.0%
Sri Lanka 146 C 0.5% -0.6% 0.1% 0.0%
Lesotho 147 C 0.0% 2.3% 2.3% 0.0%
Yemen, Rep. 148 E -0.1% 0.1% -0.5% 0.0%
Suriname 149 C -0.7% 1.4% 2.4% 0.0%
Haiti 150 E -0.8% -1.7% -1.7% 0.0%
Congo, Rep. 151 E -1.2% 2.1% 2.7% 0.0%

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Grade definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality


GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Share of Global GDP Growth expressed as a percentage of the sum of GDP for all countries in the World Economics database.
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WEALTH

Wealth is notoriously difficult to measure. The table below shows two measures: Income per Capita (proxied by GDP per capita) and Asset Wealth per Capita (proxied by data derived from the Credit Suisse Wealth Report). Population data is sourced from the United Nations Population Prospects database.


Income and Asset Wealth Per Capita
Indexes: 0 = Extremely poor, 100 = Good as it gets.
Data ranked by Income per Capita
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Country Income
per Capita
(2025, Int$)		 Asset Wealth
per Capita
(2024, Int$)




Albania $25.0K $27.2K
Peru $24.9K $15.1K
Colombia $24.1K $10.8K
Mongolia $23.8K $4.6K
Libya $22.4K $9.0K
Vietnam $22.1K $10.3K
Indonesia $22.1K $11.7K
Ukraine $21.2K $18.5K
South Africa $20.3K $15.3K
Algeria $20.2K $7.8K
Ecuador $19.3K $14.0K
Sri Lanka $18.7K $16.4K
Guatemala $18.6K $
Moldova $18.2K $18.9K
Eswatini $18.1K $
Bolivia $17.5K $8.5K
Angola $17.2K $2.3K

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Data Notes
Income Wealth uses GDP per capita derived from World Economics GDP data for 2025 measured in PPP Int$ terms, with added estimates for the Informal economy and adjustments for Base Year age.

Asset Wealth uses the Credit Suisse Mean Net Wealth per country data converted into per capita terms using population data from the United Nations Population Prospects database.
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INEQUALITY

The Inequality Index shown below is derived from the Gini Inequality Coefficient. Gini Country data varies considerably by date. These variations are recorded in the World Economics database.

The World Economics Inequality Index ranks each country onto a scale of 0-100, a high value indicates a more egalitarian society - and a low value suggests a lot of the national income is in the hands of very few depending upon the unit of measurement. Read more...


Inequality Rankings
Index: 0-100, 0 = High Inequality; 100 = High Equality
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Inequality Index
(0-100)		 World Economics
Inequality Rating
(A-E)		 Gini
Coefficient
(%)		 Gini
Data
(Year)




India 147 21.9 E 57.1 2019
Angola 148 20.4 E 61.1 2019
Yemen, Rep. 149 19.5 E 58.2 2019
Botswana 150 17.0 E 59.3 2019
Central African Republic 151 14.2 E 64.9 2019
Zambia 152 11.3 E 61.7 2019
Namibia 153 5.6 E 64.2 2019
Mozambique 154 4.6 E 64.6 2019
South Africa 155 2.9 E 65.4 2019
Eswatini 156 0.0 E 66.7 2017

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Data Notes
The Index is on a scale of 0-100, a high value indicates a more egalitarian society - and a low value suggests a lot of the national income is in the hands of very few depending upon the unit of measurement.

Rating definitions:
         A: Very good
         B: Good
         C: Average
         D: Poor
         E: Very poor


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DEBT

The debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's offical government debt and its gross domestic product (GDP), the later measured in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for out-of-date adjustments for out-of-date GDP base years and the size of informal economic activity.


Debt-to-GDP Ratio
Ranked by debt as a percentage of GDP
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Country Rank
Order		 Debt
% of GDP		 Debt
Billions, Int$



Suriname 35 58.7% $10.36
Laos 36 57.4% $58.56
Egypt 37 57.2% $1,732.67
Slovenia 38 56.0% $70.49
Argentina 39 55.5% $944.82
Slovak Republic 40 55.5% $140.71
Bahamas, The 41 55.4% $10.79
Poland 42 55.1% $1,125.00
South Africa 43 53.6% $701.09
Morocco 44 52.2% $244.52
New Zealand 45 51.4% $149.28
Malawi 46 51.1% $28.83
Trinidad and Tobago 47 51.0% $30.72
Malaysia 48 50.6% $893.82
Rwanda 49 50.3% $37.09
Romania 50 49.8% $498.04
Gabon 51 49.3% $40.43

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Data Notes
GDP is presented it in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Debt-to-GDP ratio expressed in percentage terms.
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