Overview: Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and health and educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast, most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns of the Third World, including unemployment and lack of job skills. The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources, which provide two-thirds of exports. Economic developments in the 1990s will be driven partly by the changing relations among the various ethnic groups. The shrinking economy in recent years has absorbed less than 10% of the more than 300,000 workers entering the labor force annually. Local economists estimate that the economy must grow between 5% and 6% in real terms annually to absorb all of the new entrants.

National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $115 billion (1992)

National product real growth rate: -2% (1992)

National product per capita: $2,800 (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13.9% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 45% (well over 50% in some homeland areas) (1992 est.)

Budget: revenues $28 billion; expenditures $36 billion, including capital expenditures of $3 billion (FY93 est.)

External debt: $18 billion (1992 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for about 40% of GDP

Electricity: 46,000,000 kW capacity; 180,000 million kWh produced, 4,100 kWh per capita (1991)

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GDP and 30% of labor force; diversified agriculture, with emphasis on livestock; products - cattle, poultry, sheep, wool, milk, beef, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; self-sufficient in food

Economic aid: NA

Currency: 1 rand (R)=100 cents

Exchange rates: rand (R) per US$1 - 3.1576 (May 1993), 2.8497 (1992), 2.7563 (1991), 2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March