South African economy

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The economy of South Africa is next to that of Nigeria and Egypt among the most powerful on the African continent. In quantitative terms, financial services, real estate and business-related services, manufacturing and public services made up the largest shares of South Africa's GDP in 2013 . The mining sector employs around 500,000 people, including a particularly large number of the low-skilled. A good third of export revenues are based on the sale of raw materials.

In the Global Competitiveness Index , which measures a country's competitiveness, South Africa ranks 61st out of 137 countries (as of 2017-18). In 2017, South Africa ranked 81st out of 180 countries in the Economic Freedom Index .

Economic history

Kimberley Diamond Mine (1892)

In today's South Africa , subsistence farming has long dominated . The first white settlers set up a supply station in Cape Town for ship crews from 1652, for which food had to be grown. Agriculture dominated until the first diamonds were discovered on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 . Above all in Kimberley , diamonds were subsequently mined. The first gold finds in the eastern Transvaal at Pilgrim's Rest (1873) and Barberton (1881) attracted many gold diggers. Gold was first found in the Witwatersrand in 1886 , followed by a gold rush at the end of the century , which led to the emergence of large cities such as Johannesburg . As a result, it came to the Second Boer War , in which the British won suzerainty over the area. Further mineral resources were found in quick succession. During apartheid , the high profits mainly benefited the white population group. Black miners mostly had to do risky, badly paid jobs. Often they were migrant workers - in 1977 over 128,000 miners from Lesotho worked in the South African mines. In the years after 1980, many jobs were lost, especially in mining.

Economic structure

Center of Johannesburg

With a gross domestic product of over 578 billion US dollars, South Africa was the largest economy in Africa and belongs to the G8 + 5 . However, the rural areas in the former homelands in particular resemble a developing country . In 2016, South Africa fell back to third place on the continent, but according to later calculations in the same year it was again at the top.

South Africa dominates the economy of southern Africa and has formed the Customs Union of Southern Africa (SACU) together with Swaziland , Namibia , Lesotho and Botswana since 1910 . South Africa is also a member of the South African Development Community (SADC) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) development program of the African Union .

The contribution of the various economic sectors to the gross domestic product is 66% for the service sector and 31% for industry . South Africa has a well-developed financial and legal system and generally well-developed infrastructure (communications, energy and transportation). The last few years have been characterized by high growth. In the period 2005–2007, South Africa grew at an annual rate of 5%; in 2012, growth slowed to an estimated 2.6%. The budget already showed a budget surplus . In 2012, the national debt was 43.3% of GDP.

Gini coefficients 2014 according to World Bank data

In 2012 the inflation rate was five to six percent, the unemployment rate is officially 24.9% (February 25, 2014), very high. In addition, only 13.6 million South Africans have a job, around 13 million are welfare recipients. The Gini coefficients as a measure of the imbalance in income and consumption are among the highest in the world.

The economic disadvantage of the non-white population could not be fundamentally eliminated after the end of apartheid. Between 1994 and 2004, black unemployment rose from 36% to 47%. Their average income actually fell by 19% in real terms, while that of whites rose by 15%. The poverty rate also worsened. However, the proportion of black managers in listed companies rose from 0% to 20%. In order to end the economic disadvantage of the black population, the ANC-led government is trying to fill positions in administration and the large industrial groups with more black applicants as part of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment program; Representatives of the white population criticize this South African variant of affirmative action because the focus is no longer on performance. Many professionals, especially doctors and engineers, respond by emigrating , especially to Australia , Canada and the USA .

Other problems are a high crime rate , corruption and HIV / AIDS . In addition, there is often a lack of knowledge in the administrative area. After the end of apartheid, public positions were often given to former resistance fighters, even if they did not have any administrative training. At the beginning of 2000, President Thabo Mbeki announced that he wanted to promote economic growth and investment by relaxing labor laws , privatizing state-owned companies and reducing government spending. These efforts met with stiff resistance from organized labor. Minimum wages have been introduced in many industries .

Industry

Industrial products, both in the primary and secondary sectors , make up a large part of South Africa's export revenue.

Mining

Gold (with quartz) from a mine in Welkom

The country is very rich in mineral resources , the extraction of which is responsible for 40 to 50 percent of South Africa's export revenues. In 1999 the country had the world's largest production quantities of chromium (44% of the world production), platinum (almost 80%), manganese and vanadium (57%). It also has large deposits of gold (21%), diamonds (9%), coal (6%), iron ore , nickel , titanium , antimony and palladium . The Sishen mine produces high-quality iron ore, which is mined in one of the largest open-cast mines in the world.

Mining is dominated by a few corporations that are among the largest in the world, such as Anglo American , Gencor , ARMgold , AngloGold Ashanti and Implats . The Lonmin concern , which controls platinum mining, and the diamond producer De Beers are wholly or partly owned by Anglo American. The nationalization of corporations is occasionally discussed, but rejected by the ruling ANC.

As one of the few countries in the world, South Africa also uses its rich coal reserves to produce fuel, which goes back to the earlier self-sufficiency policy of the apartheid regime. The Sasol uses for the Fischer-Tropsch process . In the power supply, hard coal has a share of 90%.

The competitiveness of the South African mining industry is weakened by frequent strikes due to the low wages and poor working conditions as well as the insecure energy supply for the energy-intensive industries. Working in the mines is risky. Between 1984 and 2005, over 11,100 miners died in South Africa.

The gold mines in particular reach a depth of almost 4,000 meters, where temperatures around 32 ° C prevail despite cooling. The mining is therefore particularly expensive. Due to the drop in the price of gold in October 1999 to as much as 250 US dollars per troy ounce - due to massive gold sales by the British central bank - gold mining in South Africa was threatened with complete failure. Gold mining was only able to save itself through the closure of capacities and the decline of the South African currency. Several corporations moved their headquarters to Great Britain. Shortly thereafter, the gold price recovered and climbed to record highs since 2009, only to fall again in 2012-14. The South African economy has meanwhile succeeded in reducing its excessive dependency on the expensive gold production, which is therefore always ailing when the price of gold fluctuates. Many mines will soon be exhausted.

The importance of other branches of mining, of which platinum production is the most important today, also declined. While the mining industries of the 20 largest producing countries grew by five percentage points annually in the wake of the raw materials boom (2001–2008), the mining industry in South Africa shrank by one percentage point. In this way, the country missed the opportunity to alleviate its social problems in the phase of globally growing demand for raw materials. The industry crisis escalated in 2012 when protests by miners killed more than 50 people. The center of the strike was the Marikana Mine, a platinum mining center, where over 40 people were shot dead by police during spontaneous strikes. The protests quickly spread to gold and coal mining.

power supply

Athlone coal-fired power station near Cape Town

The energy supply is almost exclusively the responsibility of the Eskom group, which is the seventh largest electricity producer in the world in terms of production. Around 91% of energy was obtained from fossil fuels in 2009, mostly in coal-fired power plants . In addition, South Africa relies to a small extent on nuclear energy , on hydropower plants and wind power plants . An expansion of the nuclear power plants planned by the Zuma government with Russian help was canceled by the Ramaphosa government in 2018 .

In the boom before the financial crisis, there was a catastrophic energy supply crisis in spring 2008 with frequent blackouts due to the delayed construction of new power plants, which was only gradually overcome in industry with the help of targeted shutdowns and power saving programs. Since then, the government has taken steps to expand renewable energies. First of all, the electricity tariffs have been massively increased in recent years, by an average of 25 percent a year. The government plan to promote renewable energies (“Integrated Resource Plan” from 2010) defined ambitious expansion plans and opened the energy market to private investors. A total of 17,800 megawatts are to be created by 2030. By 2016, a total of 3,725 megawatts of new capacities are to be created within the framework of the “Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs) Procurement Program” in 5 tendering rounds.

Chemical industry

Natural gas is produced at Mossel Bay . Since South Africa has hardly any crude oil , large coal liquefaction plants were built in Sasolburg and Secunda at the time of apartheid , with which fuels and raw materials for the chemical industry are obtained.

South Africa's chemical market has developed positively in important sub-segments after overcoming the economic crisis. In 2011 the chemical industry achieved a total annual turnover of around 281 billion rand (almost 27.7 billion euros).

In 2011, sales of pharmaceuticals in South Africa increased by around 8% to around 30 billion rand. The market for generics and non-prescription drugs is developing particularly well, with double-digit growth. Generics now make up more than 50% of total sales. Since 2004, drugs in South Africa can only be sold at a price set by the state.

The market for paints and varnishes is also growing and is benefiting from rising consumer spending and demand from the automotive and construction sectors. In the plastics sector, on the other hand, the South African manufacturers organized in the Plastics SA industry association are struggling with difficulties. Polymers for packaging dominate here . However, more and more end products are being imported from Asian countries in particular.

Recycling is becoming increasingly important, the rate of which is expected to increase from 18% to 35% between 2011 and 2015.

Other industries

The manufacture of motor vehicles, for example by Volkswagen of South Africa , Toyota South Africa Motors , Hyundai Automotive South Africa , Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa and Mercedes-Benz South Africa , their supplier industry as well as the textile industry and the telecommunications industry are important . The armaments industry was greatly expanded during the apartheid period, as the state could hardly get hold of weapons from other countries, and is still operated by the Denel company, for example .

Agriculture

Cornfield in South Africa

Although only 2.4% of South Africa's gross domestic product comes from agriculture , the country is the third largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. The main products that are produced are grain (mainly corn and wheat), sugar cane, fruit and vegetables, meat and wine.

Viticulture

Viticulture in South Africa is to be found in the top international positions. 425 estates produce almost 4000 different wines. The well-known wine towns of Stellenbosch , Franschhoek , Paarl and Somerset West form the wine stronghold in the Western Cape Province. More than 300 wineries are located in this area alone. Important wine auctions take place in Paarl, where the five largest wine barrels in the world are also located. Since 1994, South Africa's wine export has increased from 51 million to 370 million liters in 2011, but the greater part of the total production volume of 872 million liters (as of 2012) is consumed or processed in the country itself. Germany is one of the world's largest importers of South African wines.

tourism

View of Cape Town and Table Mountain
Entrance to the Kruger Park

The tourism has become an important economic factor since the end of the 20th century. Significant sights in South Africa include:

In 2002 more than six million tourists visited the country, in 2005 the share of tourism in the gross domestic product was estimated at more than 7%. Approximately 3% of employed South Africans work in the tourism industry, for which further growth rates are forecast. On May 13, 2002, the South African Environment and Tourism Minister Mohammed Valli Moosa presented guidelines for responsible tourism development in South Africa. This was not only intended to promote tourism in the country, but above all to involve the local population in the planning and development of tourism. The poorer classes in particular should benefit more from tourism.

When entering South Africa, citizens from most EU countries, Scandinavia and the USA receive an entry permit sticker that indicates how long they can stay in the country. This automatic entry permit is usually valid for up to 90 days. This permit is also valid for citizens of some other countries, but only for up to 30 days. A visa must be applied for for a longer stay .

Economic indicators

The important economic indicators of gross domestic product , inflation , budget balance and foreign trade developed as follows:

Change in gross domestic product (GDP), real
in% compared to the previous year
year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Change
in% compared to previous year 		0.8 2.0 3.5 2.7 3.7 3.0 4.6 4.9 5.6 5.4 3.2 −1.8 3.0 3.3 2.2 2.3 1.6 1.6 0.4
Sources: World Bank
Development of GDP (nominal)
year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
GDP absolute (in billion US $) 299 286 295 375 416 396 366 350 317 294
GDP per inhabitant (in thousands of US $) 6.1 5.7 5.8 7.3 8.0 7.5 6.6 6.8 5.7 5.2
Sources: gtai IMF , World Bank
Development of the inflation rate Development of the budget balance
in% compared to the previous year in% of GDP
("minus" = deficit in the national budget)
year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 year 2016 2017 2018
inflation rate 7.1 4.2 5.0 5.6 5.7 6.1 4.6 6.3 Budget balance −3.5 −3.5 * −3.4 *
Sources: IMF, gtai * = Forecast
Development of foreign trade
in billion US $ and its change compared to the previous year in%
2014 2015 2016
Billion US $ % year-on-year Billion US $ % year-on-year Billion US $ % year-on-year
import 99.9 −3.4 79.6 −20.3 74.7 −6.1
export 90.6 −4.7 69.6 −23.2 74.1 +6.4
balance −9.3 −10.0 −0.6
Source: gtai
Largest trading partners in South Africa 2016 (GTAI)
Export (in percent) to Import (in percent) of
China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 9.2 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 18.1
United StatesUnited States United States 7.4 GermanyGermany Germany 11.8
GermanyGermany Germany 7.1 United StatesUnited States United States 6.7
BotswanaBotswana Botswana 5.0 IndiaIndia India 4.2
NamibiaNamibia Namibia 4.8 Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 3.8
JapanJapan Japan 4.7 JapanJapan Japan 3.4
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 4.3 FranceFrance France 3.0
other countries 57.5 other countries 49.0

State budget

The state budget in 2009 comprised expenditures equivalent to 94.6 billion US dollars , which was offset by income of the equivalent of 77.9 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP .

The national debt in 2009 was $ 82.8 billion, or 29.5% of GDP.

Share of government expenditure in 2006 (in% of GDP) in various areas:

International agreements

A double taxation agreement with Germany has been in force since 1975, and there has been a text for a new agreement since 2008, but it has not yet come into force (as of 2015).

Economic prices

Individual evidence

  1. ^ South Africa's economy: key sectors . at www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com (English) Data as of 2013 from the South African statistics agency Statistics South Africa
  2. ↑ 'South Africa. Economy ' . In: Federal Foreign Office website , November 2013. Accessed April 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ At a Glance: Global Competitiveness Index 2017–2018 Rankings . In: Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 . ( weforum.org [accessed December 19, 2017]).
  4. ↑ Ranking at heritage.org (English), accessed on December 19, 2017
  5. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 248.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f CIA Factbook, as of 2012 (English), accessed on February 4, 2013
  7. ↑ South African economy slips from gold, to silver, to bronze. timeslive.co.za, May 11, 2016, accessed May 13, 2016
  8. ^ S. Africa beats Nigeria to become Africa's biggest economy - Bloomberg. africanews.com from August 10, 2016, accessed August 13, 2016
  9. ↑ data sheet at inflation.eu , accessed on February 3, 2013
  10. ^ Statistics South Africa: Economic Growth . on www.statssa.gov.za (English)
  11. ^ South Africa Indicator Report 2009 . Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  12. ↑ World Bank data sheet, as of 2010/2011 (English), accessed on February 5, 2013
  13. ^ South Africa, Class not Race , Focus , April 10, 2004.
  14. ↑ South Africa threatens the exodus of the elite , Spiegel Online, June 23, 2008.
  15. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 152
  16. ↑ giz website , accessed on June 14, 2014
  17. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 153
  18. ↑ Sishen mine at kumba.co.za ( memento of the original from January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed February 5, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kumba.co.za
  19. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 156
  20. ↑ Wolfgang Drechsler: The secret oil company from South Africa ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / kapstadt.com
  21. ↑ Detlev Karg: Choking on the coal , Deutschlandfunk from January 28, 2015
  22. ↑ Overview under: South African Coal
  23. ^ Website of the National Union of Mineworkers ( Memento of May 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on February 20, 2012.
  24. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 158
  25. ^ I. Robinson: The globalization of the South African mining industry . In: The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy , online version , ISSN 2411-9717.
  26. ↑ Gold mining in South Africa is about to end. In: srf.ch, December 8, 2014.
  27. ↑ Denis M. Tull: South Africa's Mining: Descent under the sign of domestic political conflicts. SWP study, Berlin 2013.
  28. ↑ Dossier on Eskom at unglobalcompact.org, p. 1 (English, PDF file; 36 kB), accessed on February 4, 2013
  29. ↑ South Africa stops plans for new Russian nuclear power plants. industriemagazin.at of July 30, 2018, accessed on July 31, 2018
  30. ↑ Eskom Crisis at solidarityinstitute.co.za, p. 1 ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English, PDF file; 474 kB), accessed on February 4, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.solidarityinstitute.co.za
  31. ↑ How South Africa is becoming a pioneer in renewable energies , www.kapstadt-entdecke.de, May 12, 2013
  32. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 154
  33. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed July 23, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lesedinews.de
  34. ↑ WOSA website (English), accessed on February 5, 2013
  35. ↑ South Africa's wine export at wosa.co.za (English, PDF file; 6.5 MB), accessed on February 5, 2013
  36. ^ Bernd Wiese: South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland. Klett-Perthes, Gotha / Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-623-00694-7 , p. 181
  37. ↑ a b South Africa | Data. Retrieved July 11, 2017 (American English).
  38. ↑ a b c Economic data South Africa ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) gtai.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gtai.de
  39. ^ World Economic Outlook Database
  40. ↑ Inflation South Africa ( MS Excel ; 4.4 MB), IMF, 2010.
  41. ↑ Germany Trade and Invest GmbH: GTAI - Compact economic data. Retrieved July 26, 2017 .
  42. ↑ a b c d The World Factbook
  43. ↑ The Fischer World Almanac 2010: Figures Data Facts. Fischer, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-72910-4 .
  44. ↑ Both texts can be found at the Federal Ministry of Finance : 1975 (in force) 2008 (not yet in force in October 2012), PDF, accessed on December 17, 2015.