South Africa: Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, South Africa's merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) fell 5.21 percentage points on 2022 (from 55.34% to 50.13%).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2022), the average change was −0.75 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.91 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.39 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.85 percentage points in 2010. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.6 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 43% 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 2023, South Africa had the 139th highest value of the 205 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

• Vanuatu — 136th of 205: 50.98%
• Zambia — 137th of 205: 50.96%
• Côte d'Ivoire — 138th of 205: 50.44%
• Singapore — 140th of 205: 49.79%
• Burundi — 141st of 205: 48.94%
• Peru — 142nd of 205: 48.53%

What this measures

Merchandise exports to high-income economies are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to high-income economies according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.

Limitations: Data on exports and imports are from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Direction of Trade database and should be broadly consistent with data from other sources, such as the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database. All high-income economies and major low- and middle-income economies report trade data to the IMF on a timely basis, covering about 85 percent of trade for recent years. Trade data for less timely reporters and for countries that do not report are estimated using reports of trading partner countries. Therefore, data on trade between developing and high-income economies should be generally complete.

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

All 26 values

Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Angola — 34.36% (2023)
• Benin — 11.55% (2023)
• Botswana — 64.45% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 82.37% (2023)
• Burundi — 48.94% (2023)
• Cabo Verde — 83.39% (2023)
• Cameroon — 51.62% (2023)
• Central African Republic — 84.35% (2023)

More private sector & trade data for South Africa

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 57.23% (2025)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 5.66% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$128.08 billion (2025)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 44.21% (2025)
• Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$21.49 billion (2025)
• Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 36.96% (2025)
• Travel services (% of commercial service imports) — 13.18% (2025)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports) — 9.81% (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is South Africa's merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports)?

50.13% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is down 23.15 percentage points from 73.28% in 1998. The highest value was 76.51% in 2004 and the lowest 47.11% in 2013.

How does South Africa rank?

139th highest of 205 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) unusual for South Africa?

In 2023, South Africa's merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) fell 5.21 percentage points on 2022 (from 55.34% to 50.13%). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1999 to 2022), the average change was −0.75 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.91 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MRCH.HI.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB); Direction of Trade 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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