Australia vs South Africa

Australia vs South Africa: GDP growth

GDP growth in 2025: 2% a year in Australia and 1.1% a year in South Africa, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Australia, by 0.9 percentage points, or 1.78 times that in South Africa.

% a year · IMF

Australia vs South Africa: GDP growthGDP growth in 2025: 2% a year in Australia and 1.1% a year in South Africa, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Australia, by 0.9 percentage points, or 1.78 times that in South Africa.
AustraliaSouth AfricaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Australia has been higher since 2014, when it overtook South Africa.
  • In 2025, Australia ranked 103 and South Africa ranked 120 of 143 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Australia at 2.2% a year and South Africa at 1.8% a year in 2031.

Every year

% a year · IMF

YearAustraliaSouth Africa
202521.1
202410.5
20232.10.8
20224.22.1
20215.44.9
2020-2-6.2
201920.3
20182.81.6
20172.41.2
20162.70.7
20152.31.3
20142.61.4
20132.22.5
20123.92.4
20112.83.2
20102.43
20092-1.5
20082.73.2
20074.45.4
20062.65.6
200535.3
20044.14.6
200332.9
20024.13.7
20012.62.7
20003.14.2
19994.42.4
19984.70.5
19974.72.6
199644.3
199533.1
19944.93.2
19933.91.2
19922.6-2.1
1991-1-1
19901.5-0.3
19894.62.4
19884.34.2
19874.92.1
19862.40
19855.5-1.2
19846.35.1
1983-0.5-1.8
19820.1-0.4
19814.15.4
19802.96.6
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearAustraliaSouth Africa
20261.91
20271.61.3
20281.81.5
202921.7
20302.11.8
20312.21.8

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • How much the economy grew or shrank in a year, after inflation.
  • Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
  • The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 143 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Australia vs South Africa

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