South Africa's net foreign assets (current LCU) was 1.43 trillion in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 73.19% from 823.98 billion in 2015 (5.65% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 1.43 trillion | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 1.19 trillion | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 823.98 billion | 2015 |
| Highest | 1.49 trillion | 2024 |
| Lowest | -31.53 billion | 1998 |
| Average since 2016 | 1.13 trillion | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 353.89 million |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Africa's net foreign assets (current LCU) fell 64.53 billion on 2024 (from 1.49 trillion to 1.43 trillion).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +50.41 billion and a typical year strayed about 81.39 billion from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.4 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 316.7 billion in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 87.53 billion in 2016. 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 upward, about 98.46 billion a year. A straight line explains 90% 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.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 1.8 trillion for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 78.74 billion, against 123.91 billion for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2025, South Africa had the 32nd highest value of the 106 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
- Bangladesh — 28th of 106: 2.38 trillion
- Benin — 29th of 106: 2.24 trillion
- United Arab Emirates — 30th of 106: 1.8 trillion
- Brazil — 32nd of 106: 1.26 trillion
- United States — 33rd of 106: 1.26 trillion
- Togo — 34th of 106: 1.26 trillion
What this measures
Net foreign assets are the sum of foreign assets held by monetary authorities and deposit money banks, less their foreign liabilities. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This series is expressed in local currency units.
All 60 values
| Year | Net foreign assets (current LCU) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,427,036,482,277 |
| 2024 | 1,491,566,572,091 |
| 2023 | 1,435,701,598,133 |
| 2022 | 1,327,522,221,528 |
| 2021 | 1,336,407,261,929 |
| 2020 | 1,192,626,264,016 |
| 2019 | 875,929,028,192 |
| 2018 | 795,711,029,070 |
| 2017 | 729,839,610,471 |
| 2016 | 736,455,159,496 |
Net foreign assets (current LCU) in nearby economies
- Angola — 12.83 trillion (2025)
- Benin — 2.24 trillion (2025)
- Botswana — 60.03 billion (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 3.31 trillion (2025)
- Burundi — -2.26 trillion (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 118.67 billion (2025)
- Cameroon — 2.35 trillion (2019)
- Central African Republic — 15.18 billion (2022)
- Chad — -347.79 billion (2021)
- Comoros — 126.48 billion (2024)
- Congo, Dem. Rep.
More financial sector data for South Africa
- Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 209.92 (2025)
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 3.21% (2025)
- Lending interest rate (%) — 10.69% (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)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is South Africa's net foreign assets (current LCU)?
- 1.43 trillion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1965?
- It is up 403,140% from 353.89 million in 1965 (14.84% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1.49 trillion in 2024 and the lowest -31.53 billion in 1998.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FM.AST.NFRG.CN, 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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