Overview: In 2018 South Africa was the number 32 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 36 in total exports, the number 37 in total imports, and the number 59 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). In 2018, South Africa exported $115B and imported $95.5B, resulting in a positive trade balance of $19.6B. In 2018, South Africa's exports per capita were $1.99k and its imports per capita were $1.65k.
Overview: In April 2020 South Africa exported ZAR51.7B and imported ZAR88B, resulting in a negative trade balance of ZAR36.3B. Between April 2019 and April 2020 the exports of South Africa have decreased by ZAR-48.1B (-48.2%) from ZAR99.8B to ZAR51.7B, while imports decreased by ZAR-19B (-17.8%) from ZAR107B to ZAR88B.
Trade: In April 2020 the top exports of South Africa were Platinum (ZAR7.46B), Iron Ore (ZAR6.58B), Coal Briquettes (ZAR3.66B), Citrus (ZAR1.78B), and Apples and Pears (ZAR1.46B). In April 2020 the top imports of South Africa were Crude Petroleum (ZAR7.96B), Commodities not elsewhere specified (ZAR6.21B), Refined Petroleum (ZAR3.73B), Other Cloth Articles (ZAR3.28B), and Cars (ZAR2.89B).
Growth: In April 2020, the decrease in South Africa's year-by-year exports was explained primarily by a decrease in exports to Germany (ZAR-6.45B or -78.7%), Special Categories (ZAR-4.01B or -85.1%), and India (ZAR-3.74B or -66.4%), and product exports decrease in Cars (ZAR-8.36B or -86.7%), Delivery Trucks (ZAR-3.37B or -92.2%), and Manganese Ore (ZAR-3.17B or -76.8%). In April 2020, the decrease in South Africa's year-by-year imports was explained primarily by a decrease in imports from Nigeria (ZAR-3.25B or -49.2%), Germany (ZAR-2.55B or -24.4%), and India (ZAR-2B or -38.7%), and product imports decrease in Crude Petroleum (ZAR-3.73B or -31.9%), Commodities not elsewhere specified (ZAR-3.2B or -34%), and Telephones (ZAR-2.27B or -54.8%).
This section shows exports and imports data at subnational level for South Africa. Click any date in the line plot, any subnational region in the geomap, or any product, destination or origin country to explore the exports or imports behavior of South Africa over time.
This section shows the differences between South Africa's total subnational aggregate trade throughout time. To explore different subnational trade comparisons in time, visit South Africa's subnational profiles.
In 2018 South Africa exported a total of $115B, making it the number 36 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of South Africa have changed by $4.31B from $111B in 2013 to $115B in 2018.
*Disclaimer:South Africa is part of the Southern Africa Custom Union (SACU), a custom union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. As part of SACU and given that some countries do not report particular trade with South Africa, the reported data has been gather under the Southern Africa Custom Union single entity, based on the BACI's methodology. The following visualizations shows trade data at Southern Africa Custom Union level.
In 2018 South Africa imported $95.5B, making it the number 37 trade destination in the world. During the last five reported years the imports of South Africa changed by -$15.5B from $111B in 2013 to $95.5B in 2018.
*Disclaimer:South Africa is part of the Southern Africa Custom Union (SACU), a custom union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. As part of SACU and given that some countries do not report particular trade with South Africa, the reported data has been gather under the Southern Africa Custom Union single entity, based on the BACI's methodology. The following visualizations shows trade data at Southern Africa Custom Union level.
*Disclaimer:South Africa is part of the Southern Africa Custom Union (SACU), a custom union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. As part of SACU and given that some countries do not report particular trade with South Africa, the reported data has been gather under the Southern Africa Custom Union single entity, based on the BACI's methodology. The following visualizations shows trade data at Southern Africa Custom Union level.
In 2018, South Africa exported $14.5B worth of services. The top services exported by South Africa in 2018 were Travel ($8.84B), Transportation ($2.18B), Other business services ($2.1B), Computer and information services ($622M), and Government services, n.i.e. ($367M).
The top services imported by South Africa in 2018 were Transportation ($6.73B), Travel ($3.35B), Other business services ($2.08B), Royalties and license fees ($1.79B), and Computer and information services ($1.24B).
This section shows forecasts for total product exports and imports for South Africa. The forecast is based in a long short-term memory model or LSTM constructed using yearly trade data.
*The tariffs applied to imports for South Africa are:136: Most Favoured Nation duty rate treatement163: Preferential tariff for Argentina173: Preferential tariff for Brazil217: Preferential tariff for European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries219: Preferential tariff for European Union countries (AA) Association Agreement288: Preferential tariff for Paraguay330: Preferential tariff for Uruguay347: Regional Preferential tariff for SADC countries371: Southern African Customs Union rate
During the last 20 years South Africa's economy has become relatively less complex, moving from the 37th to the 59th position in the ECI rank.
These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.
South Africa has a high level of specialization in Chromium Ore (100), Manganese Ore (70.1), Uranium and Thorium Ore (59.2), Granulated Slag (48.9), and Platinum (45.5). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between South Africa observed and expected exports in each product.
The top export opportunities for South Africa according to the relatedness index, are Crude Petroleum (0.26), Other Ores (0.25), Petroleum Gas (0.24), Raw Cotton (0.23), and Nickel Mattes (0.22). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that South Africa is not specialized in.
The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products it is currently specialized in.
The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk and the strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities.
Relatedness is a predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower emissions.
South Africa
