Goods and services expense (% of expense) in South Africa
South Africa: Goods and services expense (% of expense) was 11.5% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Goods and services expense in South Africa, 1972–2022
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
The most recent figure for goods and services expense in South Africa is 11.5%, measured in 2022.
That represents a change of up 24.7% on the previous year and up 12.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, goods and services expense in South Africa peaked at 32.0% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 6.4%, in 1993.
South Africa ranks 97th of 154 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 49 years of available data.
Goods and services expense (% of expense) in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 19.3% | — |
| 1973 | 21.2% | +10.2% |
| 1974 | 24.7% | +16.3% |
| 1975 | 25.3% | +2.4% |
| 1976 | 27.1% | +7.0% |
| 1977 | 27.7% | +2.5% |
| 1978 | 25.1% | -9.4% |
| 1979 | 26.9% | +6.9% |
| 1980 | 26.8% | -0.4% |
| 1981 | 25.7% | -3.8% |
| 1982 | 23.9% | -7.2% |
| 1983 | 23.1% | -3.2% |
| 1984 | 23.4% | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 25.0% | +7.1% |
| 1988 | 32.0% | +28.1% |
| 1989 | 28.4% | -11.2% |
| 1990 | 27.2% | -4.5% |
| 1991 | 26.9% | -0.8% |
| 1992 | 7.3% | -73.0% |
| 1993 | 6.4% | -12.4% |
| 1994 | 7.5% | +16.9% |
| 1995 | 9.5% | +26.8% |
| 1996 | 9.0% | -4.8% |
| 1997 | 8.7% | -3.7% |
| 1998 | 8.3% | -4.7% |
| 1999 | 10.2% | +22.9% |
| 2000 | 11.3% | +10.9% |
| 2001 | 12.3% | +8.9% |
| 2002 | 12.0% | -2.2% |
| 2003 | 12.2% | +1.8% |
| 2004 | 11.9% | -2.2% |
| 2005 | 12.0% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 10.8% | -10.1% |
| 2007 | 11.1% | +3.4% |
| 2008 | 11.8% | +5.7% |
| 2009 | 12.1% | +2.9% |
| 2010 | 12.4% | +2.1% |
| 2011 | 10.9% | -12.0% |
| 2012 | 10.2% | -6.2% |
| 2013 | 11.1% | +9.1% |
| 2014 | 12.8% | +15.1% |
| 2015 | 12.8% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 11.0% | -14.2% |
| 2017 | 11.1% | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 10.0% | -10.0% |
| 2019 | 9.9% | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 8.3% | -16.4% |
| 2021 | 9.2% | +11.0% |
| 2022 | 11.5% | +24.7% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 11.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 15.2%, 76% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 11.5% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 18.9%, 61% of the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Goods and services expense (% of expense) in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | -73.0% | 26.9% | 7.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 24.7% | 19.3% | 27.7% | 8 |
| 1980s | 26.0% | 23.1% | 32.0% | 8 |
| 1990s | 12.1% | 6.4% | 27.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 11.7% | 10.8% | 12.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.2% | 9.9% | 12.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.7% | 8.3% | 11.5% | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More public sector data for South Africa
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Arms imports 30.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2025)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 0.4746 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2023)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0001 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is goods and services expense in South Africa?
- Goods and services expense in South Africa was 11.5% in 2022, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest goods and services expense recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 32.0% in 1988.
- What is the lowest goods and services expense recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.4% in 1993.
- How does South Africa rank for goods and services expense?
- South Africa ranks 97th out of 154 countries with data for 2022.
- Is goods and services expense rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Goods and services expense (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Goods and services include all government payments in exchange for goods and services used for the production of market and nonmarket goods and services. Use of goods and services for own account capital formation is excluded. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.