South Africa: Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, South Africa's grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) fell 5.1% on 2022 (from US$873.83 million to US$829.2 million).

Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2022), the average change was +8.6% and a typical year strayed about 22% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 64.6% in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 26.8% in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 26% 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 2023, South Africa had the 34th highest value of the 136 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 2023 ranking

• Tunisia — 30th of 136: US$871.81 million
• Côte d'Ivoire — 31st of 136: US$863.66 million
• Myanmar — 32nd of 136: US$858.82 million
• Zimbabwe — 34th of 136: US$750.16 million
• Iraq — 35th of 136: US$744.19 million
• Madagascar — 36th of 136: US$739.06 million

What this measures

Grants are transfers made in cash, goods or services for which no repayment is required. For ODA reporting purposes, they also include forgiveness of non-military debt, support to non-governmental organisations, certain interest subsidies, and certain costs incurred in the implementation of aid. Grants to multilateral agencies intended to soften the terms of the latter’s lending are a direct resource outflow and should also be recorded as ODA grants. For OOF reporting purposes, grants for commercial purposes such as subsidies to national private investors, and grants to forgive military debt, are also included. Grant-like flows are assimilated to grants. They comprise a) loans for which the service payments are to be made into an account in the borrowing country and used in the borrowing country for its own benefit, and b) provision of commodities for sale in the recipient’s currency the proceeds of which are used in the recipient country for its own benefit. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

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

All 31 values

Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$184.93 million (2023)
• Benin — US$570.54 million (2023)
• Botswana — US$73.02 million (2023)
• Burkina Faso — US$1.13 billion (2023)
• Burundi — US$550.22 million (2023)
• Cabo Verde — US$42.27 million (2023)
• Cameroon — US$623.32 million (2023)
• Central African Republic — US$675.79 million (2023)
• Chad — US$939.04 million (2023)

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
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is South Africa's grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$)?

US$829.2 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1993?

It is up 514.04% from US$135.04 million in 1993 (6.24% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$1.1 billion in 2021 and the lowest US$135.04 million in 1993.

How does South Africa rank?

34th highest of 136 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) unusual for South Africa?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.GRT.EXTA.CD.WD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: DAC2A: Aid (ODA) disbursements to countries and regions, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), uri: DSD_DAC2@DF_DAC2A, note: Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows, Developm… 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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