What this page covers
A current account deficit means the country spends more abroad than it earns there, and the gap has to be funded by foreign capital. For the rand, how that funding behaves matters more than the size of the deficit.
| Year | Current account | Trade balance | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | About -1.5% | Surplus | Commodity prices supportive |
| 2025 | About -1.0% | Surplus | Improved terms of trade |
| 2024 | About -1.4% | Surplus | Moderate deficit |
| 2022 | About -0.5% | Large surplus | Commodity boom |
| 2021 | About +3.7% | Record surplus | Commodity prices and weak imports |
| 2020 | About +2.0% | Surplus | Imports collapsed in the pandemic |
| 2019 | About -2.6% | Small surplus | Typical of the decade |
| 2013 | About -5.8% | Deficit | The widest of the modern era |
| 2008 | About -5.5% | Deficit | Before the crisis |
| Component | Typical position | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Trade in goods | Surplus | Mining exports against oil and machinery imports |
| Services | Deficit | Transport and travel |
| Primary income | Large deficit | Dividends paid to foreign shareholders |
| Secondary income | Deficit | SACU transfers to neighbouring states |
| Situation | Effect on the rand |
|---|---|
| Deficit funded by direct investment | Stable, that capital is sticky |
| Deficit funded by portfolio flows | Fragile, that capital leaves quickly |
| Surplus | Supportive |
| Terms of trade improving | Supportive |
| Deficit widening with weak funding | The classic emerging market vulnerability |
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Every table on this page as a spreadsheet, with the source and the date it was checked in the header rows.
⬇ Download CSVHow these figures work
The figures on this page come from the body that publishes them and change on a schedule rather than continuously, which is what makes them worth keeping in one place. The primary income deficit is structural: South Africa's largest companies have substantial foreign shareholding, and the dividends they pay out leave the country every year.
A deficit is not itself a problem. What matters is whether it is funded by long-term investment or by portfolio flows that can reverse in a week.
★ What this means in practice
The 2021 surplus was exceptional, driven by a commodity price spike and imports suppressed by the pandemic. It is not a level to expect again.
✕ Common mistakes
- The primary income deficit is structural: South Africa's largest compani. The primary income deficit is structural: South Africa's largest companies have substantial foreign shareholding, and the dividends they pay out leave the country every year.
- A deficit is not itself a problem. A deficit is not itself a problem. What matters is whether it is funded by long-term investment or by portfolio flows that can reverse in a week.
- The 2021 surplus was exceptional, driven by a commodity price spike and . The 2021 surplus was exceptional, driven by a commodity price spike and imports suppressed by the pandemic. It is not a level to expect again.
- Taking a figure without its date. A number from a reference page is only as good as when it was last checked, which is why the date sits at the top of this one.
Notes on reading these figures
- The primary income deficit is structural: South Africa's largest companies have substantial foreign shareholding, and the dividends they pay out leave the country every year.
- A deficit is not itself a problem. What matters is whether it is funded by long-term investment or by portfolio flows that can reverse in a week.
- The 2021 surplus was exceptional, driven by a commodity price spike and imports suppressed by the pandemic. It is not a level to expect again.
To put these figures to work, The Rand Exchange Rate History runs the arithmetic on your own numbers; SARB Foreign Exchange Reserves covers the same ground in ordinary language; GDP Growth History goes into the detail this table only summarises; Why is the rand weak? is the related figure worth reading beside it; and Mining and the rand covers what this page leaves out.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the current account?
Trade in goods and services plus income and transfers with the rest of the world. A deficit means the country spends more abroad than it earns there.
Is a deficit bad?
Not by itself. What matters is whether it is funded by long-term direct investment or by portfolio flows that can reverse in a week.
Why is the primary income account always in deficit?
South Africa's largest companies have substantial foreign shareholding, and the dividends they pay leave the country each year.
What happened in 2021?
A record surplus, driven by a commodity price spike and imports suppressed by the pandemic. It is not a level to expect again.
How does it affect the rand?
A deficit funded by portfolio flows is the classic emerging market vulnerability, because that capital can leave quickly.
Who publishes it?
The Reserve Bank, in the quarterly bulletin.