South Africa: Government debt in foreign currency, percent

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 South Africa

Government debt in foreign currency, percent

 Latest value 9.33
 Year 2024
 Measure percent
 Data availability 2010 - 2024
 Average 9.23
 Min - Max 6.68 - 11.46
 Source The World Bank
 Available for Data download
The latest value from 2024 is 9.33 percent, a decline from 11.02 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 39.04 percent, based on data from 52 countries. Historically, the average for South Africa from 2010 to 2024 is 9.23 percent. The minimum value, 6.68 percent, was reached in 2010 while the maximum of 11.46 percent was recorded in 2019. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
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 Recent values South Africa: Government debt in foreign currency, percent
 2024 9.33
 2023 11.02
 2022 10.54
 2021 10.72
 2020 9.76
 2019 11.46
 2018 10.97
 2017 9.59




Definition: The percent of central government debt that is denominated in foreign currencies. The source for these data is: 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
 Government spending, percent of GDP 18.89 2025 percent
 Government spending, in dollars 80.70 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Fiscal balance, percent of GDP -5.79 2024 percent
 Primary budget balance -0.61 2024 percent
 Government expenditure 376.72 Q1/2026 billion
 Long-term interest rate 8.70 6/2026 percent
 Tax revenue 25.88 2024 percent
 Taxes on goods and services 32.09 2024 percent
 Taxes on international trade 3.60 2024 percent
 Income and profits taxes 50.84 2024 percent
 Foreign aid 1,506.95 2023 million U.S. dollars
 Government debt 75.96 2024 percent
 Government debt in foreign currency, percent 9.33 2024 percent
 Government debt held by non-residents 25.16 2024 percent
 Sovereign debt average maturity 10.72 2024 percent
 Short-term government debt 9.37 2024 percent
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