South Africa: Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, South Africa's foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) fell US$2.75 billion on 2024 (from −US$1.26 billion to −US$4.01 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −US$84.15 million and a typical year strayed about US$2.77 billion from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 US$5.02 billion in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was US$5.17 billion in 2023. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about US$1.04 billion a year. A straight line explains 73% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, South Africa had the 170th highest value of the 174 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.

Closest to South Africa in the 2025 ranking

• Croatia — 166th of 174: −US$416.34 million
• Iceland — 167th of 174: −US$658.51 million
• Panama — 168th of 174: −US$870.79 million
• Russian Federation — 170th of 174: −US$5.46 billion
• Austria — 171st of 174: −US$6.07 billion
• Australia — 172nd of 174: −US$6.75 billion

What this measures

Foreign direct investment refers to direct investment equity flows in an economy. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and other capital. Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy. Ownership of 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares of voting stock is the criterion for determining the existence of a direct investment relationship. This series shows net outflows of investment from the reporting economy to the rest of the world. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: FDI data do not give a complete picture of international investment in an economy. Balance of payments data on FDI do not include capital raised locally, an important source of investment financing in some developing countries. In addition, FDI data omit nonequity cross-border transactions such as intra-unit flows of goods and services. The volume of global private financial flows reported by the World Bank generally differs from that reported by other sources because of differences in sources, classification of economies, and method used to adjust and disaggregate reported information.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 56 values

Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$125.12 million (2025)
• Benin — US$53.2 million (2025)
• Botswana — US$124.33 million (2025)
• Burkina Faso — US$30.35 million (2025)
• Burundi — US$3.9 million (2025)
• Cabo Verde — US$25.71 million (2025)
• Cameroon — US$6.89 million (2025)
• Central African Republic — US$2.22 million (2025)
• Chad — −US$216.83 million (2025)

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

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is South Africa's foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$)?

−US$4.01 billion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is down 23,974% from US$16.8 million in 1970. The highest value was US$7.69 billion in 2014 and the lowest −US$4.01 billion in 2025.

How does South Africa rank?

170th highest of 174 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) unusual for South Africa?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BM.KLT.DINV.CD.WD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), note: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments database, supplemented by data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and official national sources.; UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Official… 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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