Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP in South Africa
South Africa: Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP was 49.78 in 2015. ▼ Falling
Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP in South Africa, 1914–2015
Source: International Monetary Fund.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 49.78 for gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp in 2015.
That represents a change of up 6.1% on the previous year and up 49.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp in South Africa peaked at 124.59 in 1932 and was at its lowest, 23.2, in 1984.
South Africa ranks 90th of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 102 years of available data.
Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 91.7 | — |
| 1915 | 99.04 | +8.0% |
| 1916 | 96.72 | -2.3% |
| 1917 | 90.7 | -6.2% |
| 1918 | 84.83 | -6.5% |
| 1919 | 72.21 | -14.9% |
| 1920 | 68.56 | -5.0% |
| 1921 | 80.02 | +16.7% |
| 1922 | 96.12 | +20.1% |
| 1923 | 92.1 | -4.2% |
| 1924 | 89.29 | -3.1% |
| 1925 | 87.8 | -1.7% |
| 1926 | 88 | +0.2% |
| 1927 | 87.81 | -0.2% |
| 1928 | 87.45 | -0.4% |
| 1929 | 89.62 | +2.5% |
| 1930 | 99.7 | +11.3% |
| 1931 | 113.67 | +14.0% |
| 1932 | 124.59 | +9.6% |
| 1933 | 112.73 | -9.5% |
| 1934 | 100.41 | -10.9% |
| 1935 | 87.65 | -12.7% |
| 1936 | 72.02 | -17.8% |
| 1937 | 68.89 | -4.3% |
| 1938 | 68.45 | -0.6% |
| 1939 | 68.79 | +0.5% |
| 1940 | 64.95 | -5.6% |
| 1941 | 66.3 | +2.1% |
| 1942 | 67.83 | +2.3% |
| 1943 | 71.56 | +5.5% |
| 1944 | 74.47 | +4.1% |
| 1945 | 78.43 | +5.3% |
| 1946 | 78.34 | -0.1% |
| 1947 | 72.22 | -7.8% |
| 1948 | 66.82 | -7.5% |
| 1949 | 66.85 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 63.38 | -5.2% |
| 1951 | 61.61 | -2.8% |
| 1952 | 59.36 | -3.7% |
| 1953 | 57.7 | -2.8% |
| 1954 | 56.69 | -1.7% |
| 1955 | 55.58 | -2.0% |
| 1956 | 53.9 | -3.0% |
| 1957 | 53.83 | -0.1% |
| 1958 | 55.42 | +2.9% |
| 1959 | 53.92 | -2.7% |
| 1960 | 52.92 | -1.9% |
| 1961 | 52.81 | -0.2% |
| 1962 | 52.64 | -0.3% |
| 1963 | 46.22 | -12.2% |
| 1964 | 30.35 | -34.3% |
| 1965 | 44.11 | +45.3% |
| 1966 | 45.71 | +3.6% |
| 1967 | 41.1 | -10.1% |
| 1968 | 42.67 | +3.8% |
| 1969 | 44.36 | +4.0% |
| 1970 | 43.3 | -2.4% |
| 1971 | 41.09 | -5.1% |
| 1972 | 41.12 | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 38.19 | -7.1% |
| 1974 | 33.7 | -11.8% |
| 1975 | 32.8 | -2.7% |
| 1976 | 42.47 | +29.5% |
| 1977 | 45.26 | +6.6% |
| 1978 | 44.74 | -1.2% |
| 1979 | 41.93 | -6.3% |
| 1980 | 33.28 | -20.6% |
| 1981 | 27.43 | -17.6% |
| 1982 | 31.32 | +14.2% |
| 1983 | 28.71 | -8.4% |
| 1984 | 23.2 | -19.2% |
| 1985 | 26.34 | +13.6% |
| 1986 | 32.5 | +23.4% |
| 1987 | 33.49 | +3.1% |
| 1988 | 30.61 | -8.6% |
| 1989 | 33.33 | +8.9% |
| 1990 | 31.78 | -4.6% |
| 1991 | 34.74 | +9.3% |
| 1992 | 34.78 | +0.1% |
| 1993 | 39.85 | +14.6% |
| 1994 | 46.42 | +16.5% |
| 1995 | 46.97 | +1.2% |
| 1996 | 44.33 | -5.6% |
| 1997 | 45.76 | +3.2% |
| 1998 | 45.8 | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 45.93 | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 43.32 | -5.7% |
| 2001 | 42.4 | -2.1% |
| 2002 | 35.55 | -16.2% |
| 2003 | 35.43 | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 34.39 | -2.9% |
| 2005 | 33.21 | -3.4% |
| 2006 | 31.36 | -5.6% |
| 2007 | 27.06 | -13.7% |
| 2008 | 26.51 | -2.1% |
| 2009 | 30.08 | +13.5% |
| 2010 | 34.68 | +15.3% |
| 2011 | 38.23 | +10.2% |
| 2012 | 41 | +7.2% |
| 2013 | 43.99 | +7.3% |
| 2014 | 46.9 | +6.6% |
| 2015 | 49.78 | +6.1% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 49.78 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 48.09, 1.0× the median. (57 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 49.78 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 49.32, 1.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | +45.3% | 30.35 | 44.11 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 89.2 | 72.21 | 99.04 | 6 |
| 1920s | 86.68 | 68.56 | 96.12 | 10 |
| 1930s | 91.69 | 68.45 | 124.59 | 10 |
| 1940s | 70.78 | 64.95 | 78.43 | 10 |
| 1950s | 57.14 | 53.83 | 63.38 | 10 |
| 1960s | 45.29 | 30.35 | 52.92 | 10 |
| 1970s | 40.46 | 32.8 | 45.26 | 10 |
| 1980s | 30.02 | 23.2 | 33.49 | 10 |
| 1990s | 41.64 | 31.78 | 46.97 | 10 |
| 2000s | 33.93 | 26.51 | 43.32 | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.43 | 34.68 | 49.78 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More external debt data for South Africa
- IFC, private nonguaranteed -15.41 million NFL, US$ (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per capita -0.2407 NFL, US$ per person (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per unit of GDP -0 NFL, US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per square kilometre 444.22 NFL, US$ per square kilometre (2023)
- Public and publicly guaranteed debt service 2.3% (2024)
- Net financial flows, IBRD 910.75 million NFL, current US$ (2024)
- Public and publicly guaranteed debt service 6.5% (2024)
- Net financial flows, IBRD (NFL, current US$), annual growth rate -109.7 % change on previous year (2023)
- Other investment, Debt instruments 53.54 billion US dollar (2025)
- Use of IMF credit 7.63 billion DOD, current US$ (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp in South Africa?
- Gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp in South Africa was 49.78 in 2015, according to International Monetary Fund.
- What is the highest gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 124.59 in 1932.
- What is the lowest gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.2 in 1984.
- How does South Africa rank for gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp?
- South Africa ranks 90th out of 188 countries with data for 2015.
- Is gross debt, general government, percent of fiscal year gdp rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 49.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from International Monetary Fund, published as part of Gross debt, General government, Percent of fiscal year GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The Historical Public Debt Database contains unbalanced panel data on Gross Domestic Product, Gross Government Debt, and Debt to GDP Ratio for 187 countries. The series spans the years 1800 through 2015 although each country’s data depends on its date of independence and data availability.