South Africa Balance of Trade

Last Release

Dec 31, 2025

Actual

23,180

Units In

ZAR Million

37,920

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Feb 27, 2026

Time to Release

27 Days 5 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
53,829.82 Mar 2021	-36,052.2 Apr 2020	1,745.67 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's trade surplus shrank to ZAR 23.2 billion in December 2025 from the upwardly revised ZAR 37.9 billion in the prior month, as exports fell much faster than imports. Exports slipped by 12.5% month-over-month to a ten-month low of ZAR 164.3 billion, mainly due to lower shipments of vehicles & transport equipment (-39%); precious metals & stones (-26%) and base metals (-8%). Meanwhile, imports dropped by 5.8% to ZAR 141.1 billion, as steep declines in purchases of machinery & electronics (-17%); base metals (-11%) and textiles (-11%) outweighed a 21% jump in original equipment components.