South Africa: Price level index (GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, South Africa's price level index (GDP) rose 0.99 on 2024 (from 40.49 to 41.48).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.41 and a typical year strayed about 5.51 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 13.88 in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.35 in 2013. 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 28% 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 102nd highest value of the 185 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

• Morocco — 99th of 185: 42.05
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 100th of 185: 42.02
• Montenegro — 101st of 185: 41.73
• Türkiye — 103rd of 185: 41.07
• Equatorial Guinea — 104th of 185: 41
• Kosovo — 105th of 185: 40.91

What this measures

The price level index (PLI) is the ratio of a purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor to the corresponding market exchange rate between two countries, expressed relative to a base country that is set equal to 100. For this series the base country is the United States. It provides a measure of the differences in price level between the country and the United States by indicating the number of units of the common currency (US dollars) needed to buy the same volume of the aggregation level in each country. At the level of GDP, the price level ratio provides a measure of the differences in the general price levels of countries.

Limitations: Global PPP estimates underlying this indicator are produced by the ICP Global Office and regional implementing agencies, based on data supplied by the national implementing agencies in the participating economies, and in accordance with the methodology recommended by the ICP Technical Advisory Group and approved by the ICP Governing Board. As such, these results are not produced by participating economies as part of their national official statistics. Price level index are not recommended to use as a precise measure to establish strict rankings of countries.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a no aggregation provided for this indicator in wdi..

All 36 values

Price level index (GDP) in nearby economies

• Angola — 30.53 (2025)
• Benin — 34.43 (2025)
• Botswana — 37.58 (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 37.36 (2025)
• Burundi — 18.74 (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 47.65 (2025)
• Cameroon — 34.08 (2025)
• Central African Republic — 42.33 (2025)
• Chad — 35.22 (2025)
• Comoros — 48.5 (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 42.02 (2025)
• Congo, Rep.

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

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is South Africa's price level index (GDP)?

41.48 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is down 14.72% from 48.64 in 1990 (0.45% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 65.78 in 2011 and the lowest 30.57 in 2002.

How does South Africa rank?

102nd highest of 185 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in price level index (GDP) unusual for South Africa?

In 2025, South Africa's price level index (GDP) rose 0.99 on 2024 (from 40.49 to 41.48). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.41 and a typical year strayed about 5.51 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 PA.NUS.GDP.PLI, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB), uri: https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators, publisher: World Development Indicators 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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