An Analysis of South Africa Economy

An Analysis of South Africa Economy 1
AN ANALYSIS OF SOUTH AFRICA ECONOMY
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An Analysis of South Africa Economy 2
An Analysis of South Africa Economy
Q1
Since the outset of democratic rule, through to the culmination of 2012, the economy of
South Africa recorded an average yearly growth rate in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of
3.27 percent. The South African Debt as a percentage of GDP shot up through the pre-1994 era,
declined through fiscal prudence polices in the golden era to 28 percent in 2007 and , since the
outset of the global financial slump, has rocked again to 44 percent, still way below the
developed world benchmark in Europe, United States and Asia. Notwithstanding, the South
African Debt has increased since 2006 in global debt standings, when it was US$ 85,205 million
and in terms of GDP percentage, when it aggregated to 31.33 percent. In line with the last data
point published, the per capita debt of South Africa in 2016 was US$ 2,742 per resident. In 2015,
it amounted to US$ 2,861, afterwards plummeting by US$ 119. Furthermore, the debt per person
in 2006 was 1,768 dollars.
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
South Africa National Debt since 1994
Figure 1: South Africa National Debt.

An Analysis of South Africa Economy 3
Figure 1 represents the evolution of South Africa debt. In 2016, the national debt of
South Africa was 152,508 millions of dollars, (51.57percent debt-to-GDP ratio) and its public
debt per capita is US$ 2,742 dollars per inhabitant, 4,142 million shy of 2015 debt
(Data.worldbank.org, 2018). This amount implies that the debt in 2016 stretched to 51.57 percent
of South Africa GDP, a 2.26 percent-point increase from 2015, when it was 49.32 percent of
GDP (Data.worldbank.org, 2018). The figure below summarizes the history of South Africa
National Debt. The downturn, in spite of being short-lived has had substantial labor market
impacts which the economy of South Africa is still trying to recover from. Essentially however,
the period prior to the slump signifies perhaps the longest period of continuous positive
economic growth in the modern history of South Africa.
Q2
The issue of foreign debt has been a key and the most insistent setback for many
economies around the world. The United States total public debt according to Global Finance
Magazine, (2018) is certainly the biggest in the world with amounting to $19.23 trillion (USD)
presently. Japan follows closely at US$ 11.81 trillion and China at US $2.48 trillion.
Figure 2: Top five “leaders” in Global debt on a GDP basis
Source: UN report, 2018