South Africa's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) was 30.41% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 7.14 percentage points from 23.27% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 30.41% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 31.44% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 23.27% | 2015 |
| Highest | 37.78% | 2021 |
| Lowest | 6.41% | 1994 |
| Average since 2016 | 28.98% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 16.14% | 1974 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Africa's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 1.24 percentage points on 2024 (from 29.17% to 30.41%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.76 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.22 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 12.19 percentage points in 2001 and the biggest yearly fall was 11.6 percentage points in 2002. 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 0.87 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 36% 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 2025, South Africa had the 8th highest value of the 102 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 | 30.41% | 2025 |
| World | 4% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 14.15% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 3.74% | 2025 |
Closest to South Africa in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Ores and metals comprise the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 27 (crude fertilizer, minerals nes); 28 (metalliferous ores, scrap); and 68 (non-ferrous metals). Exports of services are services provided by residents to non-residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.
Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 45 values
| Year | Ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 30.41 |
| 2024 | 29.17 |
| 2023 | 29.12 |
| 2022 | 31.55 |
| 2021 | 37.78 |
| 2020 | 31.44 |
| 2019 | 28.45 |
| 2018 | 25.61 |
| 2017 | 24.19 |
| 2016 | 22.07 |
| 2015 |
Ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies
- Angola — 5.91% (2025)
- Benin — 0.07% (2024)
- Botswana — 10.75% (2023)
- Burkina Faso — 0.25% (2024)
- Burundi — 1.9% (2023)
- Cabo Verde — 0.0000583% (2023)
- Cameroon — 2.21% (2023)
- Central African Republic — 6.32% (2024)
- Comoros — 1.23% (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep.
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
Questions people ask
- What is South Africa's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports)?
- 30.41% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1974?
- It is up 14.27 percentage points from 16.14% in 1974. The highest value was 37.78% in 2021 and the lowest 6.41% in 1994.
- How does South Africa rank?
- 8th highest of 102 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for South Africa?
- In 2025, South Africa's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 1.24 percentage points on 2024 (from 29.17% to 30.41%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.76 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.22 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 TX.VAL.MMTL.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); 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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