Fiscal Balance in South Africa
South Africa faced a large fiscal deficit from 2013 to 2022, driven by government spending to stimulate growth and address social issues, electricity supply crises, high unemployment, and corruption. The COVID-19 pandemic further strained public finances, leading to increased borrowing and debt. By 2022, the focus was on fiscal consolidation, amid concerns about debt sustainability and economic stagnation.
The fiscal balance in South Africa averaged -4.9% of GDP in the decade to 2022, below the Sub-Saharan Africa region average of -4.5% of GDP. The fiscal balance in South Africa in 2022 was -3.7% of GDP. For more fiscal balance information, visit our dedicated page.
South Africa Fiscal Balance Chart
Note: This chart displays Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) for South Africa from 2015 to 2014.
Source: Macrobond.
South Africa Fiscal Balance Data
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) | -6.0 | -9.8 | -5.1 | -4.6 | - |
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects South African fiscal balance projections for the next ten years from a panel of 17 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable fiscal balance forecast available for South African fiscal balance.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our South African fiscal balance projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of South African fiscal balance forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.