South Africa's households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) was 2.38% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 2.25 percentage points from 0.12% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 2.38% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | -7.63% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 0.12% | 2015 |
| Highest | 7.67% | 2006 |
| Lowest | -7.63% | 2020 |
| Average since 2016 | 0.08% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | -0.68% | 1961 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Africa's households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) rose 2.65 percentage points on 2024 (from -0.27% to 2.38%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.09 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.62 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above 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 12.02 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.66 percentage points in 1985. 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 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 2025, South Africa had the 63rd highest value of the 129 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 | 2.38% | 2025 |
| World | 2.04% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 1.85% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 4.13% | 2024 |
Closest to South Africa in the 2025 ranking
- Nepal — 59th of 129: 2.5%
- Portugal — 60th of 129: 2.49%
- Cabo Verde — 61st of 129: 2.4%
- El Salvador — 63rd of 129: 2.35%
- Sudan — 64th of 129: 2.34%
- North Macedonia — 65th of 129: 2.31%
What this measures
This field includes expenditure on goods and services by the Household and NPISH sector for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 65 values
| Year | Households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.38 |
| 2024 | -0.27 |
| 2023 | -1.1 |
| 2022 | 1.2 |
| 2021 | 4.38 |
| 2020 | -7.63 |
| 2019 | -0.3752 |
| 2018 | 1.44 |
| 2017 | 1.05 |
| 2016 | -0.2599 |
| 2015 |
Households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) in nearby economies
- Angola — 2.52% (2024)
- Benin — 4.96% (2025)
- Botswana — -3.81% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 0.11% (2025)
- Burundi — 0.3% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 2.4% (2025)
- Cameroon — 4.43% (2025)
- Central African Republic — -0.22% (2025)
- Chad
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 households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth)?
- 2.38% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1961?
- It is up 3.06 percentage points from -0.68% in 1961. The highest value was 7.67% in 2006 and the lowest -7.63% in 2020.
- How does South Africa rank?
- 63rd highest of 129 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) unusual for South Africa?
- In 2025, South Africa's households final consumption expenditure per capita (annual % growth) rose 2.65 percentage points on 2024 (from -0.27% to 2.38%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.09 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.62 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above 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 NE.CON.PRVT.PC.KD.ZG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, 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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