Economy - overview South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to cut into high unemployment, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President MBEKI vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment, and to reduce poverty by relaxing restrictive labor laws, stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. The economy slowed in 2001, largely the result of the slowing of the international economy.

GDP purchasing power parity - $412 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.6% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $9,400 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 3%
industry: 31%
services: 66% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 50% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 45.9% (1994)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 59.3 (1993-94)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5.8% (2001 est.)

Labor force 17 million economically active (2000)

Labor force - by occupation agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate 37% (2001 est.)

Budget
revenues: $22.6 billion
expenditures: $24.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY02/03)

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

Industrial production growth rate 7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production 194.383 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 92.62%
hydro: 0.69%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 6.69%

Electricity - consumption 181.521 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 4.549 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 5.294 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

Exports $32.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment

Exports - partners EU 33%, US 20%, Japan 6%, Mozambique 2.5% (2001 est.)

Imports $28.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments

Imports - partners EU 41%, US 11.4%, Saudi Arabia 7.3%, Japan 7% (2001 est.)

Debt - external $25.5 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient $539 million (1999)

Currency rand (ZAR)

Currency code ZAR

Exchange rates rand per US dollar - 11.58786 (January 2002), 8.60918 (2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997)

Fiscal year 1 April - 31 March

NOTE: The information regarding South Africa on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of South Africa Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about South Africa Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.