section_path: Economy
section_name: Economy
paragraph_text: Economy
  
  South Africa has a mixed economy. Its economy is Africa's largest, most technologically advanced and industrialised. It also has a relatively high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa US$16,080 at purchasing power parity as of 2023 ranked 95th. However, South Africa is still burdened by a relatively high rate of poverty and unemployment and is ranked in the top ten countries in the world for income inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient.
  
  South Africa is ranked 40th by total wealth, making it the second wealthiest country in Africa, in terms of private wealth South Africa has a private wealth of $651 billion making South Africa's population the richest in Africa followed by Egypt with $307 billion and Nigeria with $228 billion.
  
  Approximately 55.5% (30.3 million people) of the population is living in poverty at the national upper poverty line while a total of 13.8 million people (25% of the population) are experiencing food poverty.
  
  In 2015, 71% of net wealth are held by 10% of the population, whereas 60% of the population held only 7% of the net wealth, and the Gini coefficient was 0.63, whereas in 1996 it was 0.61.
  
  Unlike most of the world's poor countries, South Africa does not have a thriving informal economy. Only 15% of South African jobs are in the informal sector, compared with around half in Brazil and India and nearly three-quarters in Indonesia. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attributes this difference to South Africa's widespread welfare system. World Bank research shows that South Africa has one of the widest gaps between per capita GDP versus its Human Development Index ranking, with only Botswana showing a larger gap.
  
  After 1994, government policy brought down inflation, stabilised public finances, and some foreign capital was attracted; however, growth was still below expectations. From 2004 onward, economic growth picked up significantly; both employment and capital formation increased. During the presidency of Jacob Zuma, the government increased the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Some of the biggest SOEs are Eskom, the electric power monopoly, South African Airways (SAA), and Transnet, the railroad and ports monopoly. Some of these SOEs have not been profitable, such as SAA, which has required bailouts totaling R30 billion ($ 2.03 billion) over the 20 years preceding 2015. Principal international trading partners of South Africa—besides other African countries—include Germany, the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Spain. The 2020 Financial Secrecy Index ranked South Africa as the 58th safest tax haven in the world.
  
  The South African agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of GDP for the nation. Due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land.
  
  In August 2013, South Africa was ranked as the top African Country of the Future by fDi Intelligence based on the country's economic potential, labour environment, cost-effectiveness, infrastructure, business friendliness, and foreign direct investment strategy.