The national debt of South Africa is the total quantity of money borrowed by the Government of South Africa at any time through the issue of securities by the South African Treasury and other government agencies.

As of 2025/26 the gross South African government debt was , with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 77.4%.

Roughly 90% of the national debt in 2019/20 was denominated in South African rand thereby reducing borrowing risk due to currency fluctuations. By September 2020 around US$157 billion of South Africa's national debt was externally owned. As of December 2021 the share of domestic bonds held by foreign investors was 28.2%, this represented a declined to a 10-year low.

History

Apartheid era During apartheid South Africa faced a worsening financial situation stemming from an economic recession and increasing international sanctions in the 1980s. In 1980 the country's total debt amounted to US$16.9 billion, representing a debt to GDP ratio of 20%. By 1984 the country's debt had increased to US$24.3 billion representing a debt to GDP ratio of 46%. The deteriorating political situation stemming from apartheid policies resulted in "huge capital outflows and a temporary closure of foreign exchange markets" between 1984 and 1985. In August 1985 the stability of South Africa's financial situation was put under severe pressure following P.W. Botha's Rubicon speech. The speech and the lack of commitment by the government to roll back apartheid legislation resulted in a sovereign default on the debt when global lenders refused to rollover South Africa's debts. The final payment of $6.89 billion on the $13.6 billion 1985 debt was made by the South African government in 2001.

Post-apartheid era South Africa's national debt was effectively reduced during the Mandela and Mbeki administrations. The debt significantly increased from 2008 onwards during the presidencies of Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa.

By 2009 South Africa's debt to GDP ratio dropped to 28% from 34.6% in 2006. South Africa's debt grew between 2008 and 2012 as the country prepared for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and run a countercyclical fiscal policy in response to the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. This increased the debt to GDP ratio to 43.9% of GDP by 2014.

Historic Data +Historic Overview of National Debt (1978-2025) Financial YearNet loan debtGross DebtCash BalancesGovernment bondsTreasury billsBridging bondsNon-marketableForeign debtDomestic cash balanceForeign cash balanceR billion1978/7915 12 1 0 3 1 (1)0 1979/8017 13 1 0 4 1 (1)0 1980/8118 15 0 0 4 1 (2)0 1981/8220 17 1 0 3 1 (2)0 1982/8322 20 1 0 3 1 (3)0 1983/8427 23 0 0 4 1 (3)0 1984/8534 28 1 0 4 2 (1)0 1985/8638 33 1 0 4 2 (1)0 1986/8745 39 1 0 4 2 (2)0 1987/8856 47 0 0 8 2 (2)0 1988/8965 61 0 0 5 2 (4)0 1989/9071 71 2 0 7 2 (11)0 1990/9187 83 3 0 8 2 (9)0 1991/92104 101 4 0 7 3 (10)0 1992/93141 133 6 0 5 2 (5)0 1993/94185 175 7 0 3 5 (5)0 1994/95233 210 7 8 6 9 (7)0 1995/96271 249 11 4 5 11 (9)0 1996/97305 276 14 0 6 11 (3)0 1997/98331 301 17 0 3 15 (5)0 1998/99358 326 19 0 2 16 (5)0 1999/00374 333 22 0 1 26 (7)0 2000/01397 340 26 0 2 32 (3)0 2001/02427 332 18 0 2 82 (7)0 2002/03417 329 22 0 2 74 (10)0 2003/04442 360 29 0 2 65 (13)0 2004/05471 394 34 0 3 69 (31)0 2005/06470 417 40 0 4 67 (58)0 2006/07478 422 46 0 3 83 (75)0 2007/08483 426 52 0 3 96 (94)0 2008/09526 463 65 0 2 97 (101)0 2009/10673 586 115 0 5 99 (107)(25)2010/11820 733 136 0 23 98 (111)(59)2011/12990 890 155 0 26 117 (130)(68)2012/131,182 1,039 172 0 30 125 (104)(80)2013/141,379 1,218 192 0 31 144 (121)(84)2014/151,584 1,399 202 0 31 167 (120)(94)2015/161,805 1,573 209 0 37 200 (112)(102)2016/172,008 1,732 250 0 39 213 (110)(114)2017/182,260 1,950 293 0 29 218 (123)(106)2018/192,545 2,160 307 0 29 291 (121)(123)2019/202,998 2,501 333 0 39 387 (112)(152)2020/213,602 3,071 456 0 16 392 (240)(94)2021/224,011 3,398 448 0 19 412 (170)(97)2022/234,516 3,762 423 0 25 556 (121)(129)2023/245,064 4,129 511 0 28 592 (92)(103)2024/255,469 4,511 551 0 30 602 (131)(94)2025/265,964 4,820 588 0 29 653 (50)(76)

See also

List of countries by public debt Economy of South Africa National Budget of South Africa Taxation in South Africa

References

External links South African national debt clock