South Africa vs South Korea

South Africa vs South Korea: GDP growth

GDP growth in 2025: 1.1% a year in South Africa and 1.1% a year in South Korea, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in South Korea, by 0 percentage points, or 1.02 times that in South Africa.

Watch it change on the map

% a year · IMF

South Africa vs South Korea: GDP growthGDP growth in 2025: 1.1% a year in South Africa and 1.1% a year in South Korea, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in South Korea, by 0 percentage points, or 1.02 times that in South Africa.
South AfricaSouth KoreaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • South Korea has been higher since 2022, when it overtook South Africa.
  • In 2025, South Africa ranked 120 and South Korea ranked 119 of 143 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts South Africa at 1.8% a year and South Korea at 1.9% a year in 2031.

Every year

% a year · IMF

YearSouth AfricaSouth Korea
20251.11.1
20240.52.2
20230.81.5
20222.12.9
20214.94.7
2020-6.2-0.7
20190.32.3
20181.63.2
20171.23.4
20160.73.2
20151.32.9
20141.43.2
20132.53.3
20122.42.5
20113.23.7
201037
2009-1.50.8
20083.23
20075.45.8
20065.65.2
20055.34.4
20044.65.2
20032.93.1
20023.77.7
20012.74.7
20004.29.2
19992.411.6
19980.5-4.9
19972.66.3
19964.38
19953.19.7
19943.29.4
19931.27
1992-2.16.4
1991-110.9
1990-0.310
19892.47.2
19884.212.1
19872.112.9
1986011.5
1985-1.27.9
19845.110.6
1983-1.813.5
1982-0.48.5
19815.47.4
19806.6-1.5
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearSouth AfricaSouth Korea
202613.3
20271.32.8
20281.52.3
20291.72.1
20301.81.9
20311.81.9

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

South Africa vs South Korea

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