Congo - Kinshasa vs South Africa

Congo - Kinshasa vs South Africa: GDP growth

GDP growth: 8.5% a year in Congo - Kinshasa in 2023 and 1.1% a year in South Africa in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Congo - Kinshasa, by 7.7 percentage points, or 11 times that in South Africa.

Watch it change on the map

% a year · IMF

Congo - Kinshasa vs South Africa: GDP growthGDP growth: 8.5% a year in Congo - Kinshasa in 2023 and 1.1% a year in South Africa in 2025, by IMF estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Congo - Kinshasa, by 7.7 percentage points, or 11 times that in South Africa.
Congo - KinshasaSouth AfricaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Congo - Kinshasa has been higher since 2017, when it overtook South Africa.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Congo - Kinshasa at 5.5% a year and South Africa at 1.8% a year in 2031.

Every year

% a year · IMF

YearCongo - KinshasaSouth Africa
20255.71.1
20246.10.5
20238.50.8
20229.32.1
20216.44.9
20200.8-6.2
20190.60.3
20186.11.6
20174.21.2
20160.40.7
20156.41.3
20147.31.4
20139.62.5
20128.72.4
20117.63.2
20107.83
20090.6-1.5
20087.43.2
20078.55.4
20065.15.6
20059.85.3
20047.74.6
20036.62.9
20022.93.7
2001-2.12.7
2000-8.14.2
1999-3.82.4
1998-3.90.5
1997-7.82.6
1996-1.94.3
19952.83.1
1994-6.13.2
1993-13.51.2
1992-10.5-2.1
1991-8.4-1
1990-6.6-0.3
1989-1.32.4
19880.54.2
19872.72.1
19864.70
19850.5-1.2
19844.85.1
19831.4-1.8
1982-0.5-0.4
19810.95.4
19802.46.6
  • 12.3Projected
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearCongo - KinshasaSouth Africa
20265.21
20275.71.3
20285.51.5
20295.51.7
20305.51.8
20315.51.8

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

Congo - Kinshasa vs South Africa

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