South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a republic located in the southernmost part of the African continent and holds an important economic and political position in the region. Backed by abundant mineral resources, a well-developed financial system, and advanced infrastructure, it possesses a diverse industrial structure and is widely recognized as a major country driving the African economy.

According to major indicators for 2025, the total population is approximately 64.747 million (up 1.2% year-on-year), nominal GDP (in USD terms) is approximately $427.18433 billion (up 6.5% year-on-year), and nominal GDP per capita is approximately $6,597.7 (up 5.3% year-on-year). On the other hand, the real GDP growth rate remained sluggish at 1.1% (up 0.6 pts from the previous year), and the real GDP growth rate per capita stood at -0.0% (up 0.7 pts from the previous year), indicating a slow pace of actual economic growth. In addition, the unemployment rate remained high at 32.4% (up 0.1 pts from the previous year), leaving severe challenges in the labor market.

Looking at prices as well as monetary and fiscal aspects, while the consumer price inflation rate in 2025 showed signs of easing at 3.2% (down 1.2 pts from the previous year), the real interest rate remained at a high level of 7.7% (up 0.3 pts from the previous year). In external transactions, trade (% of GDP) was 60.9% (down 0.7 pts from the previous year), and the current account balance (% of GDP) stood at -0.4% (up 0.2 pts from the previous year). On the fiscal front, government debt (% of GDP) as of 2024 reached 82.8%, expanding by 3.3 pts from the previous year, highlighting the heavy fiscal burden.