Economy:
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. Growth has been positive since the historic election
of President Nelson MANDELA in the country's first multi-racial elections
in 1994, but not strong enough to cut into the substantial unemployment.
Daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially
the problems of poverty and economic empowerment among the blacks. Other
problems are crime and corruption. The new South African Government
demonstrated its commitment to open markets, privatization, and a favorable
investment climate with the release of its macroeconomic strategy in
June 1996. Called "Growth, Employment and Redistribution,"
this policy framework includes the introduction of tax incentives to
stimulate new investment in labor-intensive projects, expansion of basic
infrastructure services, the restructuring and partial privatization
of state assets, continued reduction of tariffs and subsidies to promote
economic efficiency, improved services to the disadvantaged, and integration
into the global economy.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$270 billion (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 3% (1997 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$6,200 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 37%
services: 58% (1995 est.)
Inflation rate—consumer price index: 9.7% (1997 est.)
Labor force:
total: 14.2 million economically active (1996)
by occupation: services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%,
other 6%
Unemployment rate: 30% (1997 est.); note—an additional 11% of the workforce is underemployed
Budget:
revenues: $30.5 billion
expenditures: $38 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion
(FY94/95 est.)
Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs
Industrial production growth rate: 1.2% (1996 est.)
Electricity—capacity: 34.566 million kW (1995)
Electricity—production: 163.56 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity—consumption per capita: 3,559 kWh (1995)
Agriculture—products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
Exports:
total value: $31.3 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: gold 20%, other minerals and metals 20%-25%, food 5%, chemicals
3% (1997)
partners: Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EU countries, Hong Kong
Imports:
total value: $28 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%,
petroleum products, textiles, scientific instruments (1994)
partners: Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy
Debt—external: $23.5 billion (1997 est.)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA
note: current aid pledges include US $600 million over three years,
1994-96; UK $150 million over three years; Australia $21 million over
three years; Japan $1.3 billion over two years ending in 1996; EU $833
million over five years
Currency: 1 rand (R) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: rand (R) per US$1—4.94193 (January 1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996), 3.62709 (1995), 3.55080 (1994), 3.26774 (1993)