Economy - overview  South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to cut into the 30% unemployment, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President MBEKI vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment by relaxing restrictive labor laws, stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. His policies face strong opposition from organized labor.

GDP  purchasing power parity - $296.1 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate  0.6% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita  purchasing power parity - $6,900 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector  agriculture:5%
industry:35%
services:60% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share  lowest 10%:1.4%
highest 10%:47.3% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)  5.5% (1999 est.)

Labor force  15 million economically active (1997)

Labor force - by occupation  agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate  30% (1999 est.)

Budget  revenues:$30.5 billion
expenditures:$38 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion (FY94/95 est.)

Industries  mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Industrial production growth rate  -5% (1998 est.)

Electricity - production  192.015 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source  fossil fuel:92.09%
hydro:0.83%
nuclear:7.08%
other:0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption  174.486 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports  4.093 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports  5 million kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products  corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

Exports  $28 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities  gold, diamonds, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment

Exports - partners  UK, Italy, Japan, US, Germany (1997)

Imports  $26 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities  machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments

Imports - partners  Germany, US, UK, Japan

Debt - external  $25.7 billion (1998 est.)

Economic aid - recipient  $676.3 million

Currency  1 rand (R) = 100 cents

Exchange rates  rand (R) per US$1 - 6.12439 (January 2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996), 3.62709 (1995)