This Survey was prepared in the Economics Department by Falilou Fall and Christine Lewis under the supervision of Piritta Sorsa. It has benefited from valuable background research by Boingotlo Gasealahwe, seconded from the South African National Treasury. Iris Mantovani and Iza Lejarraga from the directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and Charles Cadestin from the Trade and Industry directorate contributed to the Survey. Statistical research assistance was provided by Taejin Park, Hermes Morgavi and Pedro Herrera Gimenez. General administrative assistance was provided by Brigitte Beyeler, Anthony Bolton, Raquel Paramo and Heloise Wïckramanayake. The previous Survey of South Africa was issued in July 2015.

The Survey was discussed at a meeting of the Economic and Development Review Committee on 12 June 2017 with participation of representatives of the South African government and representatives of France and Portugal as lead speakers.

The Survey is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more information about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

  
Basic statistics of South Africa, latest available year
(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)a

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE

Population (million)

53.5

Population density per km

43.9

(35.1)

 Under 15 (%)

29.3

(18.0)

Life expectancy (years)

57.2

(80.9)

 Over 65 (%)

5.7

(16.3)

 Men

54.7

(77.8)

 Latest 5-year average growth (%)

0.6

(0.4)

 Women

58.8

(83.1)

Latest general election

May 2014

ECONOMY

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Value added shares (%)

 In current prices (billion USD)

317.7

 Primary sector

2.5

(2.5)

 In current prices (billion ZAR)

4 033.6

 Industry including mining and construction

29.5

(26.8)

 Latest 5-year average real growth (%)

2.2

(1.9)

 Services

68.0

(70.6)

 Per capita (000 USD PPP)

13.7

(41.2)

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

Per cent of GDP

Expenditure

36.7

(41.3)

Revenue

32.7

(38.0)

EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS

Exchange rate (ZAR per USD)

12.695

Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)

PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)

5.516

 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones/metals

15.0

In per cent of GDP

 Mineral fuels

11.7

 Exports of goods and services

30.5

(54.3)

 Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock

11.5

 Imports of goods and services

31.6

(50.3)

Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)

 Current account balance

-4.4

(0.2)

 Mineral fuels

17.5

 Net international investment position (2014)

-7.5

 Machinery, mechanical appliances, nuclear reactors, boilers

13.3

 Electrical machinery and equipment

10.9

LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION

Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

43.0

(67.0)

Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)

26.7

(6.3)

 Men

49.2

(74.7)

 Youth (age 15-24, %)

53.3

(13.0)

 Women

37.0

(59.3)

 Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)

8.8

(2.2)

Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

58.7

(71.6)

Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%)

6.4

(33.3)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP)

0.7

(2.4)

ENVIRONMENT

Total primary energy supply per capita (toe)

2.8

(4.1)

CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)

8.1

(9.4)

 Renewables (% of total)

10.8

(9.6)

Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita (1 000 m3)

0.8

(27.3)

Fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5, μg/m3)

26.1

(14.5)

SOCIETY

Public and private spending (% of GDP)

Income inequality (Gini coefficient)

0.634

(0.325)

 Health care, current expenditure

8.8

(9.1)

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population)

53.8

 Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary, public)

4.7

(3.5)

Share of women in parliament (%, January 2017)

41.2

(28.4)

← a. Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 29 member countries.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Inter-Parliamentary Union.