Countries · Africa
South Africa
South Africa has Africa's deepest financial markets, and its Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest on the continent.
At a glance
Net inflows of foreign direct investment were −$2.16bn in 2025, against an average of $7.57bn a year in 2015–2024. Investors based in South Africa withdrew a net $4.01bn of direct investment from abroad in the same year. Foreign investors were net sellers of $1.16bn of shares in South Africa in 2025. Investors in South Africa held $10.7bn of US Treasury securities at the end of August 2026, −$7.8bn on a year earlier, and $35.2bn of US shares.
Foreign investors have been net sellers of South African shares in most years since 2019. The jump in direct investment in 2021 reflects a one-off corporate restructuring. South Africa is a member of BRICS.
South Africa's holdings of US securities
Treasuries, shares and bonds issued in the US and held by investors in South Africa.
Holdings of US securities
End of month, Aug 2025 to Aug 2026, $bn.
Net purchases of long-term US securities
Each month, $bn. Positive means net buying.
The US Treasury records holdings by the country where securities are held in custody, which is not always the owner's country. Why this matters.
Direct and equity investment
Annual net flows, $bn. Direct investment means building or buying businesses; portfolio equity means buying listed shares and fund units.
Net flows by year
Direct investment into and out of South Africa, and foreign buying of its shares, $bn.
Current account and reserves
The balance of trade and income with the rest of the world, and the reserves held by the central bank.
Current account balance
Each year, $bn. A surplus means the country lends to the rest of the world.
Foreign exchange reserves, including gold
End of year, $bn.
Remittances
Money sent home by people working abroad, compared with direct investment, $bn.
Remittances and direct investment
Each year, $bn.
The economy
GDP
Current US dollars, $bn. Dollar figures also move with exchange rates.
Growth and inflation
Real GDP growth and consumer price inflation, per cent.
All figures
Annual figures from the World Bank, as published. Download them for every country on the data page.
| Indicator | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population (m) | 56.72 | 57.26 | 57.64 | 58.61 | 59.59 | 60.56 | 61.50 | 62.38 | 63.21 | 64.01 | 64.75 |
| GDP ($bn) | 346.7 | 323.6 | 381.4 | 405.3 | 389.3 | 338.0 | 420.0 | 407.6 | 381.4 | 401.1 | 427.2 |
| GDP per person ($) | 6,112 | 5,651 | 6,618 | 6,914 | 6,534 | 5,581 | 6,829 | 6,534 | 6,034 | 6,267 | 6,598 |
| Real GDP growth (%) | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.3 | −6.2 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Inflation (%) | 4.5 | 6.6 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 4.4 | 3.2 |
| Current account ($bn) | −14.94 | −8.52 | −9.06 | −12.16 | −10.20 | 6.77 | 15.84 | −1.21 | −4.21 | −2.58 | −1.81 |
| Current account (% GDP) | −4.3 | −2.6 | −2.4 | −3.0 | −2.6 | 2.0 | 3.8 | −0.3 | −1.1 | −0.6 | −0.4 |
| Reserves incl. gold ($bn) | 45.9 | 47.2 | 50.7 | 51.6 | 55.1 | 55.0 | 57.6 | 60.6 | 62.5 | 65.4 | 76.0 |
| Direct investment in ($bn) | 1.52 | 2.22 | 2.06 | 5.57 | 5.12 | 3.15 | 40.66 | 9.24 | 3.86 | 2.33 | −2.16 |
| Direct investment out ($bn) | 5.51 | 4.49 | 7.45 | 4.03 | 3.14 | −1.94 | 0.10 | 2.37 | −2.79 | −1.26 | −4.01 |
| Portfolio equity in ($bn) | 8.50 | 1.64 | 7.59 | 2.95 | −4.29 | −5.16 | −27.43 | 1.03 | −4.38 | −3.93 | −1.16 |
| Remittances ($bn) | 0.83 | 0.76 | 0.87 | 0.93 | 0.89 | 0.81 | 0.93 | 0.87 | 0.80 | 0.86 | 1.00 |
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