South Africa (2024)
82.8
% of GDP
+3.4pp YoY
YoY Change
+3.4pp
percentage points
Trend
up
Series length
21
years of data

Data

South Africa Central Government Debt (% of GDP) (2024) — source data. World Bank.
Year % of GDP Change
2024 82.8 +3.4pp
2023 79.4 +3.2pp
2022 76.2 +2.1pp
2021 74.1 -1.6pp
2020 75.7 +11.1pp
2019 64.6 +5.5pp
2018 59.1 +2.8pp
2017 56.3 +2.6pp
2016 53.7 +1pp
2015 52.7 +13.1pp
2000 39.6 -2.6pp
1999 42.2 -2.5pp
1998 44.7 +1.5pp
1997 43.2 -1pp
1996 44.2 -0.7pp
1995 44.9 +0.1pp
1994 44.8 +4.8pp
1993 40 +3.1pp
1992 36.9 +3pp
1991 33.9 +1.5pp

About this Dataset

South Africa recorded 82.8 % of GDP in 2024. The latest change was +3.4pp. Across 1990–2024 the series ranges from 32.4 in 1990 to 82.8 in 2024.

This page tracks central government debt as a share of GDP in South Africa from 1990 to present. Government debt levels set the fiscal space for stimulus and directly price sovereign credit risk.

Data sourced from World Bank via Open Data API. Values use World Bank standardised methodology intended for cross-country comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page tracks central government debt as a share of GDP in South Africa from 1990 to present. Government debt levels set the fiscal space for stimulus and directly price sovereign credit risk. It is published by World Bank and updated annually.

The most recent observation covers 2024. World Bank typically publishes this series with a lag of several months after the reference period. The series runs 1990–2024 (21 observations).

The series peaked at 82.8 % of GDP in 2024 and reached its lowest recorded value of 32.4 in 1990. The latest reading of 82.8 in 2024 represents a change of +3.4pp.