South Africa: External debt
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
| South Africa |
External debt, percent of GDP |
|---|---|
| Latest value | 44.01 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Measure | percent |
| Data availability | 1994 - 2024 |
| Average | 29.34 |
| Min - Max | 14.11 - 51.92 |
| Source | The World Bank |
| Available for | Data download |
The latest value from 2024 is 44.01 percent, an increase from 43.48 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 132.26 percent, based on data from 119 countries. Historically, the average for South Africa from 1994 to 2024 is 29.34 percent. The minimum value, 14.11 percent, was reached in 1994 while the maximum of 51.92 percent was recorded in 2020.
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* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
| Recent values | South Africa: External debt |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 44.01 |
| 2023 | 43.48 |
| 2022 | 42.15 |
| 2021 | 40.35 |
| 2020 | 51.92 |
| 2019 | 49.00 |
| 2018 | 44.48 |
| 2017 | 45.90 |
Definition: The total debt of public and private borrowers held by non-residents as percent of GDP. Source: Kose, M. Ayhan, Sergio Kurlat, Franziska Ohnsorge, and Naotaka Sugawara. 2022. "A Cross-Country Database of Fiscal Space." Journal of International Money and Finance 128 (November): 102682.
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| Related indicators | Latest | Reference | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terms of trade | 117.10 | 2024 | percent |
| Trade openness | 60.91 | 2025 | percent |
| Financial openness | -1.248 | 2022 | index points |
| Exports, percent of GDP | 31.41 | 2025 | percent |
| Exports, billion dollars | 134.18 | 2025 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Growth of exports | -2.45 | 2025 | percent |
| Imports, percent of GDP | 29.50 | 2025 | percent |
| Imports, billion dollars | 126.02 | 2025 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP | -0.51 | 2025 | percent |
| Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars | 2.33 | 2024 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Portfolio investment inflows, equities | -3,933.64 | 2024 | million dollars (current) |
| Current account, percent of GDP | -0.42 | 2025 | percent |
| Current account, in dollars | -1.81 | 2025 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Current Account, quarterly | 1.50 | 3/2026 | percent |
| Trade balance, percent of GDP | 1.91 | 2025 | percent |
| Trade balance, in dollars | 7.81 | 2024 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Reserves | 76.02 | 2025 | billion U.S. dollars |
| Remittances, percent of GDP | 0.21 | 2024 | percent |
| Remittances | 1,004.74 | 2025 | million U.S. dollars |
| Net errors and omissions | -1,096.74 | 2025 | million USD |
| External debt | 44.01 | 2024 | percent |
| Short-term external debt | 27.56 | 2024 | percent |
| Short-term debt to reserves | 74.34 | 2024 | percent |
| External debt in foreign currencies | 56.28 | 2024 | percent |