Economy · GDP per capita · South Africa
South Africa’s GDP per capita rose to $6,598 in 2025.
$6,598
2025
Up $330.5 from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
$6,598
What it is. GDP per capita divides the value of everything a country produces in a year by its population, here measured in current US dollars. Because it is converted at prevailing exchange rates, a swing in the rand against the dollar can move the figure even when the economy itself has changed little. It is an average, so it says nothing about how income is shared between richer and poorer households, and it leaves out unpaid work and informal activity that goes uncounted.
Higher is better. A higher figure means more output for each person, which gives room for higher incomes, spending and tax revenue, so a rise is good news. The latest figure, for 2025, is 6,598 USD, up from 6,267 USD a year earlier, a rise of 5.3%. Since 2016 the range runs from a low of 5,581 USD in 2020 to a high of 6,914 USD in 2018. The current level sits in the upper part of that range, though still below the 2018 peak.
Why it matters. At 6,598 USD per person, South Africa has recovered most of the ground lost in 2020, but average output per head is still below its 2018 level. For households, that means average income in dollar terms has not yet regained its earlier high. For the state, a smaller economic base per person limits how much tax revenue it can raise to fund services and repay debt.
| Period | GDP per capita · South Africa |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $5,651 |
| 2017 | $6,618 |
| 2018 | $6,914 |
| 2019 | $6,534 |
| 2020 | $5,581 |
| 2021 | $6,829 |
| 2022 | $6,534 |
| 2023 | $6,034 |
| 2024 | $6,267 |
| 2025 | $6,598 |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, GDP per capita, South Africa, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/gdp-per-capita/south-africa
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
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Methodology
Gross domestic product per person at current US dollars. Unit: USD.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series NY.GDP.PCAP.CD), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.