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South Africa — GDP growth
GDP Growth (Annual %) for South Africa, 1961–2025.
Latest value · 2025
1.11%
GDP Growth (Annual %) · annual % · -71.0% since 1961
GDP growth for South Africa was 1.11% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 65 years, from 1961 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 7.94% in 1964. The lowest was -6.17% in 2020 (about -5.5× the latest value). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.92% per year.
South Africa ranks 169 of 212 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 80%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 4.61%, so South Africa sits below it. It peaked in 1964 and has fallen 86% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 16%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
1.11%
First (1961)
3.84%
Change
-71.0%
Highest
7.94%
in 1964
Lowest
-6.17%
in 2020
Average
2.73%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-1.92%
Years of data
65
Recent years
| Year | annual % |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.11% |
| 2024 | 0.53% |
| 2023 | 0.81% |
| 2022 | 2.06% |
| 2021 | 4.86% |
| 2020 | -6.17% |
| 2019 | 0.26% |
| 2018 | 1.56% |
| 2017 | 1.16% |
| 2016 | 0.66% |
| 2015 | 1.32% |
| 2014 | 1.41% |
Reading this correctly. Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at constant market prices. A negative value means the economy contracted that year. Figures are in annual %. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG — GDP Growth (Annual %). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.