South Africa Balance of Trade

Last Release

May 31, 2025

Actual

21,670

Units In

ZAR Million

13,000

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Jul 31, 2025

Time to Release

29 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
53,829.82 Mar 2021	-36,052.2 Apr 2020	1,585.86 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 21.7 billion in May 2025, widening from a downwardly revised ZAR 13 billion in the prior month. Exports climbed by 6.3% over a month to a six-month high of ZAR 176 billion, boosted by shipments of precious metals & stones (+30%), namely gold and PGMs; vegetable products (+17%); citrus fruits, base metals (+12%) and machinery & electronics (+11%). Exports increased to Europe (+14%), Africa (+4.6%) and Asia (+3.2%), but declined to Oceania (-44.5%) and America (-4.2%). Meanwhile, imports rose at a slower 1.2% to ZAR 154 billion, driven by purchases of mineral products (+13%), primarily crude oil; base metals (+9%), namely artificial corundum, and original equipment components (+6%), which were partly offset by declines in vegetable products (-28%) and machinery & electronics (-4%). Imports went up from Africa (+32.3%) and Oceania (+11.8%) but dropped from America (-3.4%), Asia (-1.9%) and Europe (-2.2%).