South Africa's lending interest rate (%) was 10.69% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.27 percentage points from 9.42% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 10.69% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 7.71% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 9.42% | 2015 |
| Highest | 22.33% | 1984 |
| Lowest | 5.5% | 1963 |
| Average since 2016 | 9.84% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 6.21% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Africa's lending interest rate (%) fell 0.94 percentage points on 2024 (from 11.63% to 10.69%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 5.67 percentage points in 1984 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.17 percentage points in 1986. 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 3% 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 29th highest value of the 75 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
What this measures
Lending rate is the bank rate that usually meets the short- and medium-term financing needs of the private sector. This rate is normally differentiated according to creditworthiness of borrowers and objectives of financing. The terms and conditions attached to these rates differ by country, however, limiting their comparability.
Limitations: Countries use a variety of reporting formats, sample designs, interest compounding formulas, averaging methods, and data presentations for indices and other data series on interest rates. The IMF's Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual does not provide guidelines beyond the general recommendation that such data should reflect market prices and effective (rather than nominal) interest rates and should be representative of the financial assets and markets to be covered. For more information, please see http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/mfs/manual/index.htm.
All 66 values
| Year | Lending interest rate (%) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 10.69 |
| 2024 | 11.63 |
| 2023 | 11.5 |
| 2022 | 8.79 |
| 2021 | 7.04 |
| 2020 | 7.71 |
| 2019 | 10.13 |
| 2018 | 10.08 |
| 2017 | 10.38 |
| 2016 | 10.46 |
| 2015 |
Lending interest rate (%) in nearby economies
- Angola — 19.37% (2025)
- Benin — 6.25% (2021)
- Botswana — 6.26% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 6.25% (2021)
- Burundi — 12.37% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 7.75% (2025)
- Comoros — 8.03% (2022)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 24.11% (2025)
- Côte d'Ivoire — 5.3% (2016)
- Eswatini — 10.88% (2024)
- Gambia, The — 22% (2025)
- Guinea-Bissau
More financial sector data for South Africa
- Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 209.92 (2025)
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 3.21% (2025)
- Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) — 3.51% (2025)
- GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 162.02 (2025)
- DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$17.89 (2025)
- Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$17.89 (2025)
- Real interest rate (%) — 7.68% (2025)
- Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 2.79% (2025)
- Broad money (current LCU) — 5.87 trillion (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is South Africa's lending interest rate (%)?
- 10.69% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 4.48 percentage points from 6.21% in 1960. The highest value was 22.33% in 1984 and the lowest 5.5% in 1963.
- How does South Africa rank?
- 29th highest of 75 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in lending interest rate (%) unusual for South Africa?
- In 2025, South Africa's lending interest rate (%) fell 0.94 percentage points on 2024 (from 11.63% to 10.69%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 FR.INR.LEND, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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