South Africa

South Africa: sluggish, near-stagnant growth, 1980–2025

The end of apartheid in 1994 opened South Africa to global trade and investment, but growth since has been constrained by persistent inequality, unemployment, and, more recently, electricity-supply crises. Between 1980 and 2025, South Africa's GDP per capita grew from $3,029 to $6,598 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 1.7% — sluggish, near-stagnant growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.0% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 2.5 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 5.3% to 2.8% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 46.9% to 63.1% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 60.0 to 66.3 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 10.5% to 23.5%, while the urban population share grew from 48.4% to 63.8%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions fell from 8.23 to 6.88 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 59.3 to 54.1; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 44.6% to 17.4%.