Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa

South Africa: Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on was 0.6152 in 2020. ▲ Rising

Latest (2020)
0.6152
Change on year
up 4.7%
World rank
20th
of 60 countries
All-time high
0.7769
in 2012
All-time low
0.0631
in 2002
Years of data
19
2001–2020

Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa, 2001–2020

00.20.40.60.82001201020202001: 0.1182002: 0.0632003: 0.0762004: 0.0792005: 0.7282006: 0.7322008: 0.7242009: 0.7122010: 0.7362011: 0.742012: 0.7772013: 0.722014: 0.7262015: 0.7242016: 0.7112017: 0.6192018: 0.5592019: 0.5872020: 0.615

Source: International Monetary Fund.

Analysis

In 2020, social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa stood at 0.6152.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.7% on the previous year and down 16.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa peaked at 0.7769 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 0.0631, in 2002.

That places South Africa 20th out of 60 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.

Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government) in South Africa, 2001 to 2020.
Year Value Change
2001 0.1185
2002 0.0631 -46.7%
2003 0.0756 +19.8%
2004 0.0794 +5.0%
2005 0.7284 +817.5%
2006 0.7321 +0.5%
2008 0.7237 -1.1%
2009 0.7119 -1.6%
2010 0.7359 +3.4%
2011 0.74 +0.6%
2012 0.7769 +5.0%
2013 0.7198 -7.4%
2014 0.7263 +0.9%
2015 0.7243 -0.3%
2016 0.7109 -1.8%
2017 0.6194 -12.9%
2018 0.5588 -9.8%
2019 0.5874 +5.1%
2020 0.6152 +4.7%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 0.6152 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.5851, 1.1× the median. (19 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on 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.

YearChange FromTo
2005 +817.5% 0.0794 0.7284
2002 -46.7% 0.1185 0.0631

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 0.4041 0.0631 0.7321 8
2010s 0.6899 0.5588 0.7769 10
2020s 0.6152 0.6152 0.6152 1

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 17 Guatemala 0.7625 compare
  2. 18 Luxembourg 0.7005 compare
  3. 19 Israel 0.6698 compare
  4. 21 Denmark 0.5883 compare
  5. 22 Turkey 0.5861 compare
  6. 23 Serbia 0.5851 compare

See the full ranking of 60 places →

More public sector data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa?
Social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa was 0.6152 in 2020, according to International Monetary Fund.
What is the highest social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 0.7769 in 2012.
What is the lowest social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0631 in 2002.
How does South Africa rank for social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on?
South Africa ranks 20th out of 60 countries with data for 2020.
Is social protection, ratio of this level of government's expenditure on rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 16.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from International Monetary Fund, published as part of Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/social-protection-ratio-of-this-level-of-government-s-expenditure-on-this-item-to-total/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Social protection, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government)
Source
International Monetary Fund
Licence
IMF Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
60 places, 1,210 data points, 1990–2020
Last refreshed

The Fiscal Decentralization dataset includes fiscal decentralization indicators for a sample of IMF member countries. The following indicators are included in the dataset: Revenue and Expenditure Decentralization Shares; Transfer dependency and Vertical Fiscal Imbalances; Deficit and Debt; Allocation of expenditure (economic classification); Allocation of expenditure (functional classification); Allocation of non-Tax Revenues; and Allocation of Taxes.