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South Africa: Central government debt (% of GDP)

Percent of GDP · 1865–2025 · 161 observations · cgovdebt_GDP

2025
78.1%percent of GDP
Change on 2024
+1.7 pointsfrom 76.4%
Average, 2016–2025
64.0%10 years
Record high and low
134.4% (1900)low 7.94% (1872)

Central government debt (% of GDP)

Report error
0%20%40%60%80%100%120%140%18801900192019401960198020002020South AfricaSouth Africa
Percent of GDP

Compare with other countries →Definition of Central government debt (% of GDP)

Recent values

Percent of GDP

YearValue
202578.1
202476.4
202373.4
202270.8
202168.7
202068.9
201956.1
201851.5
201748.6
201647.1

Sources

  • Reinhart & Rogoff1865–2009
  • IMF Global Debt Database1950–2024
  • South African Reserve Bank1960–2025
  • WDI (archive)1971
  • World Development Indicators1990–2024

Compare these sources →

South Africa documentation (PDF)

More for South Africa

Real GDP per capita (USD)Nominal GDPReal GDPInflationUnemployment rateGovernment debt (% of GDP)All 76 series →

Central government debt (% of GDP) elsewhere

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Please cite: Müller, K., Xu, C., Lehbib, M., & Chen, Z. (2025). The Global Macro Database: A New International Macroeconomic Dataset. NBER Working Paper 33714. BibTeX →

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