Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa

South Africa: Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure was 0.5844 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0.5844
Change on year
up 7.5%
World rank
54th
of 75 countries
All-time high
0.9246
in 1999
All-time low
0.5437
in 2019
Years of data
24
1997–2020

Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa, 1997–2020

00.20.40.60.811997200820201997: 0.8861998: 0.8981999: 0.9252000: 0.8872001: 0.892002: 0.8522003: 0.8012004: 0.812005: 0.8022006: 0.8672007: 0.7762008: 0.9032009: 0.9242010: 0.8362011: 0.6772012: 0.7112013: 0.8162014: 0.7282015: 0.7842016: 0.7272017: 0.7492018: 0.7472019: 0.5442020: 0.584

Source: International Monetary Fund.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 0.5844 for subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure in 2020.

That represents a change of up 7.5% on the previous year and down 30.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa peaked at 0.9246 in 1999 and was at its lowest, 0.5437, in 2019.

South Africa ranks 54th of 75 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure on this item to total general government expenditure on this, Percent (Central government) in South Africa, 1997 to 2020.
Year Value Change
1997 0.8864
1998 0.8983 +1.3%
1999 0.9246 +2.9%
2000 0.8866 -4.1%
2001 0.8903 +0.4%
2002 0.8522 -4.3%
2003 0.8011 -6.0%
2004 0.8101 +1.1%
2005 0.8023 -1.0%
2006 0.8669 +8.1%
2007 0.7765 -10.4%
2008 0.9032 +16.3%
2009 0.9242 +2.3%
2010 0.8355 -9.6%
2011 0.6769 -19.0%
2012 0.7108 +5.0%
2013 0.8159 +14.8%
2014 0.7281 -10.8%
2015 0.7842 +7.7%
2016 0.727 -7.3%
2017 0.7494 +3.1%
2018 0.7468 -0.3%
2019 0.5437 -27.2%
2020 0.5844 +7.5%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 0.5844 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.9018, 65% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 0.5844 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9854, 59% of the median. (6 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.9031 0.8864 0.9246 3
2000s 0.8513 0.7765 0.9242 10
2010s 0.7318 0.5437 0.8355 10
2020s 0.5844 0.5844 0.5844 1

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 51 Czechia 0.6644 compare
  2. 52 Türkiye 0.6454 compare
  3. 53 Italy 0.5848 compare
  4. 55 Georgia 0.5804 compare
  5. 56 Russian Federation 0.5786 compare
  6. 57 Chile 0.5549 compare

See the full ranking of 75 places →

More public sector data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa?
Subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa was 0.5844 in 2020, according to International Monetary Fund.
What is the highest subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 0.9246 in 1999.
What is the lowest subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.5437 in 2019.
How does South Africa rank for subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure?
South Africa ranks 54th out of 75 countries with data for 2020.
Is subsidies, payable, ratio of this level of government's expenditure rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 30.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from International Monetary Fund, published as part of Subsidies, payable, 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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Subsidies, payable, Ratio of this level of government's expenditure in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/subsidies-payable-ratio-of-this-level-of-government-s-expenditure-on-this-item-to-total/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Subsidies, payable, 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
75 places, 1,429 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.