South Africa's risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) was 3.51% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 0.14 percentage points from 3.36% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 3.51% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 3.16% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 3.36% | 2015 |
| Highest | 5.67% | 1975 |
| Lowest | 2.58% | 1961 |
| Average since 2016 | 3.27% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 2.61% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, South Africa's risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) rose 0.17 percentage points on 2024 (from 3.34% to 3.51%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.3 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 1.51 percentage points in 1992 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.86 percentage points in 1976. 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 0.06 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 54% 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 17th highest value of the 32 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
- Mozambique — 14th of 32: 5.02%
- Mauritius — 15th of 32: 4.31%
- Trinidad and Tobago — 16th of 32: 4.21%
- Thailand — 18th of 32: 3.45%
- Iceland — 19th of 32: 3.14%
- Bolivia — 20th of 32: 3%
What this measures
Risk premium on lending is the interest rate charged by banks on loans to private sector customers minus the "risk free" treasury bill interest rate at which short-term government securities are issued or traded in the market. In some countries this spread may be negative, indicating that the market considers its best corporate clients to be lower risk than the government. The terms and conditions attached to lending 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 | Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.51 |
| 2024 | 3.34 |
| 2023 | 3.56 |
| 2022 | 3.64 |
| 2021 | 3.26 |
| 2020 | 3.16 |
| 2019 | 3.04 |
| 2018 | 2.93 |
| 2017 | 3.05 |
| 2016 | 3.23 |
| 2015 |
Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) in nearby economies
- Angola — 1.9% (2024)
- Cabo Verde — 6.44% (2025)
- Eswatini — 1.67% (2024)
- Gambia, The — 8.34% (2025)
- Kenya — 1.32% (2024)
- Lesotho — 4.34% (2024)
- Madagascar — 48.65% (2025)
- Malawi — 21.22% (2024)
- Mauritania
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)
- 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)
- Broad money (% of GDP)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is South Africa's risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %)?
- 3.51% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 0.9 percentage points from 2.61% in 1960. The highest value was 5.67% in 1975 and the lowest 2.58% in 1961.
- How does South Africa rank?
- 17th highest of 32 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) unusual for South Africa?
- In 2025, South Africa's risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) rose 0.17 percentage points on 2024 (from 3.34% to 3.51%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.3 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 FR.INR.RISK, 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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