South Africa Balance of Trade

Last Release

Feb 28, 2025

Actual

20,900

Units In

ZAR Million

-16,420

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Apr 30, 2025

Time to Release

28 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
53,829.82 Mar 2021	-36,052.2 Apr 2020	1,521.61 ZAR Million	1957-2025	South African Revenue Service

In 2017, South Africa recorded the biggest trade deficits with China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Thailand, France, Nigeria, Italy and Brazil and the biggest trade surpluses with Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Belgium and Netherlands.

Latest Updates

South Africa recorded a trade surplus of ZAR 20.9 billion in February 2025, compared to a revised ZAR 16.8 billion shortfall in the prior month. Exports surged by 10.4% over a month to ZAR 164 billion, driven by higher shipments of vehicles & transport equipment (77%), precious metals & stones (+24%) and machinery & electronics (12%). Conversely, imports slipped by 13.5% to ZAR 143.1 billion, with declines across all five major categories. Lower purchases were observed for vehicles & transport equipment (-31%), original equipment (-26%), machinery & electronics (-12%), plastics & rubber (-28%) and chemical products (-11%).