SOUTH AFRICA Country Profile

By about A.D. 500, Bantu speaking groups settled into northeastern South Africa. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in 1652. The British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806. British and Afrikaners (Dutch descendants) ruled jointly from 1910 in the Union of South Africa. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 followed the end of apartheid.

ECONOMY

Economic Overview upper middle-income South African economy; hard hit by COVID-19; poor utilities management; key rare earth goods exporter; high income inequality; hosts Africa’s largest stock exchange; rising unemployment, especially youth; land rights changes

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) $680 billion (2020 est.)

GDP per capita (Purchasing Power Parity) $11,500 (2020 est.)

Industries - mining, automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron, steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Agricultural products - sugarcane, maize, milk, potatoes, grapes, poultry, oranges, wheat, soybeans, beef

Exports $93.01 billion (2020 est.) gold, platinum, cars, iron products, coal, manganese, diamonds (2019) 

Partners: China 15%, UK 8%, Germany 7%, US 6%, India 6% (2019) 

Imports $77.86 billion (2020 est.) crude and refined petroleum, cars/vehicle parts, gold, broadcasting equipment (2019)

Partners: China 18%, Germany 11%, US 6%, India 5% (2019)

*Information obtained from CIA.GOV Click on our Country Profile  to get a complete downloadable copy of  South Africa's World Factbook profile.