This document deals with the South African economy. It replaces Chapter 5 in the earlier editions of Economics for South African students. The document starts with a brief overview of the development of the economy. This is followed by a closer look at the performance of the South African economy in recent years. This performance is then placed in a historical and international context by comparing it with past trends and with the performance of other countries.

The next section indicates South Africa’s international economic position. There is also a discussion of South Africa’s factor endowment, that is, the availability of the various factors of production, which supplements the discussion in the textbook. This is followed by a discussion of South Africa’s economic links with the rest of the world. A few further perspectives on economic growth in South Africa are provided and the document ends with a few graphs that illustrate the performance of the South African economy over time.

This document is updated annually.