Overview: Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and health and educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast, most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns of the Third World, including unemployment and lack of job skills. The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources, which provide two-thirds of exports. Economic developments for the remainder of the 1990s will be driven largely by the new government's attempts to improve black living conditions and to set the country on an aggressive export-led growth path. The shrinking economy in recent years has absorbed less than 5% of the more than 300,000 workers entering the labor force annually. Local economists estimate that the economy must grow between 5% and 6% in real terms annually to absorb all of the new entrants.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $171 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 1.1% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $4,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.7% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 50% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $26.3 billion
expenditures: $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.5 billion (FY94 est.)

Exports: $24.3 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: gold 27%, other minerals and metals 20-25%, food 5%, chemicals 3%
partners: Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EC countries, Hong Kong

Imports: $18.1 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%, oil, textiles, scientific instruments
partners: Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy

External debt: $17 billion (1993 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for about 40% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 46,000,000 kW
production: 180 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 4,100 kWh (1991)

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GDP and 30% of labor force; diversified agriculture, with emphasis on livestock; products - cattle, poultry, sheep, wool, milk, beef, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; self-sufficient in food

Illicit drugs: transshipment center of heroin and cocaine; cocaine consumption on the rise

Economic aid: many aid packages for the new government are still being prepared; current aid pledges include US $600 million over 3 years; UK $150 million over 3 years; Australia $21 million over 3 years

Currency: 1 rand (R) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: rand (R) per US$1 - 3.4551 (March 1994), 3.2636 (1993), 2.8497 (1992), 2.7563 (1991), 2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding South Africa on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of South Africa Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about South Africa Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.