South Africa's external debt stocks (% of GNI) was 44.83% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 4.66 percentage points from 40.17% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 44.83% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 50.25% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 40.17% | 2014 |
| Highest | 52.78% | 2020 |
| Lowest | 14.34% | 1994 |
| Average since 2015 | 45.25% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 14.34% | 1994 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, South Africa's external debt stocks (% of GNI) rose 0.67 percentage points on 2023 (from 44.16% to 44.83%).
Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was +1.03 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 8.29 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 11.74 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, South Africa had the 55th highest value of the 110 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 44.83% | 2024 |
| Upper middle income | 21.3% | 2024 |
Closest to South Africa in the 2024 ranking
- Sudan — 51st of 110: 45.4%
- Dominican Republic — 52nd of 110: 45.33%
- Congo, Rep. — 53rd of 110: 44.9%
- Morocco — 55th of 110: 44.72%
- Togo — 56th of 110: 43.16%
- São Tomé and Principe — 57th of 110: 42.75%
What this measures
Total external debt stocks to gross national income. Total external debt is debt owed to nonresidents repayable in currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 31 values
| Year | External debt stocks (% of GNI) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 44.83 |
| 2023 | 44.16 |
| 2022 | 43.1 |
| 2021 | 41.04 |
| 2020 | 52.78 |
| 2019 | 50.25 |
| 2018 | 45.74 |
| 2017 | 47.19 |
| 2016 | 45.69 |
| 2015 | 37.71 |
| 2014 |
External debt stocks (% of GNI) in nearby economies
- Angola — 79.57% (2024)
- Benin — 66.55% (2024)
- Botswana — 11.93% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 48.76% (2024)
- Burundi — 47.13% (2024)
- Cabo Verde — 86.89% (2024)
- Cameroon — 31.29% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 35.85% (2024)
- Chad — 16.4% (2024)
- Comoros — 24.81% (2024)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 18.25% (2024)
More economic policy & debt data for South Africa
- Trade in services (% of GDP) — 9.32% (2025)
- Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) — 44.9% (2025)
- Primary income payments (BoP, current US$) — US$20.32 billion (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$, BoP) — US$126.24 billion (2025)
- Insurance and financial services (% of service imports, BoP) — 5.58% (2025)
- Goods imports (current US$, BoP) — US$104.47 billion (2025)
- Service imports (current US$, BoP) — US$21.77 billion (2025)
- Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments (BoP, current US$) — US$1.74 billion (2025)
- Imports of goods, services and primary income (current US$, BoP)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is South Africa's external debt stocks (% of GNI)?
- 44.83% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1994?
- It is up 30.49 percentage points from 14.34% in 1994. The highest value was 52.78% in 2020 and the lowest 14.34% in 1994.
- How does South Africa rank?
- 55th highest of 110 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in external debt stocks (% of GNI) unusual for South Africa?
- In 2024, South Africa's external debt stocks (% of GNI) rose 0.67 percentage points on 2023 (from 44.16% to 44.83%). Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was +1.03 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator DT.DOD.DECT.GN.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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