Foreign Direct Investment in South Africa increased by 11700 ZAR Billion in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - South Africa Foreign Direct Investment- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Historical chart and dataset showing South Africa foreign direct investment by year from 1970 to 2023.

Key information about South Africa Foreign Direct Investment: % of GDP

• South Africa Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) registered a fall equal to 0.2 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Sep 2024, compared with a growth equal to 0.9 % in the previous quarter.
• South Africa Foreign Direct Investment: % of Nominal GDP data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1985 to Sep 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 36.1 % in Sep 2021 and a record low -1.9 % in Dec 2006.

CEIC calculates Foreign Direct Investment as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Foreign Direct Investment and quarterly Nominal GDP. South African Reserve Bank provides Foreign Direct Investment in local currency. Statistics South Africa provides Nominal GDP in local currency.


Related information about South Africa Foreign Direct Investment: % of GDP

• In the latest reports of South Africa, Current Account recorded a deficit of 932.5 USD mn in Mar 2023.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell by 180.4 USD mn in Sep 2024.
• South Africa Direct Investment Abroad fell by 955.2 USD mn in Sep 2024.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 2.5 USD bn in Sep 2024.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 95.9 USD bn in Mar 2023.

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) in South Africa was reported at 0.90421 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Key information about South Africa Foreign Direct Investment

• South Africa Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell by 180.4 USD mn in Sep 2024, compared with an increase of 893.3 USD mn in the previous quarter.
• South Africa Foreign Direct Investment: USD mn net flows data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1985 to Sep 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 38.4 USD bn in Sep 2021 and a record low of -1.4 USD bn in Dec 2006.

CEIC converts quarterly Foreign Direct Investment into USD. South African Reserve Bank provides Foreign Direct Investment in local currency. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions.


Related information about South Africa Foreign Direct Investment

• In the latest reports of South Africa, Current Account recorded a deficit of 932.5 USD mn in Mar 2023.
• South Africa Direct Investment Abroad fell by 955.2 USD mn in Sep 2024.
• Its Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 2.5 USD bn in Sep 2024.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 95.9 USD bn in Mar 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Financial Account: Liabilities: Direct Foreign Investment in Reporting Country for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BPFADI03ZAA637N) from 1985 to 2011 about FDI, financial account, South Africa, foreign, BOP, liabilities, investment, and financial.

As of 2023, Foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars. Foreign direct investment inflows in Africa decreased slightly from 2022 to 2023. According to the source, the drop was due to a drop in FDI to the two biggest FDI receiving countries on the continent, Egypt and South Africa.

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) in South Africa was reported at 3442331506 USD in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

United States Foreign Direct Investment: Africa: South Africa data was reported at 21.000 USD mn in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of -44.000 USD mn for Mar 2018. United States Foreign Direct Investment: Africa: South Africa data is updated quarterly, averaging 3.000 USD mn from Mar 1994 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 89 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 604.000 USD mn in Sep 2001 and a record low of -750.000 USD mn in Dec 2001. United States Foreign Direct Investment: Africa: South Africa data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.O004: Foreign Direct Investment: by Country: Flow.

After a peak in 2014, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa from the United States dropped to 44.81 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, but picked up again throughout the following years, reaching 56.29 in 2023. Africa receives lower FDI inflows than any other region. What is FDI? FDI is when investors from one country, in this case the United States, invest in firms that are based abroad. Often investors do this to earn higher returns due to a risk premium. They will seek markets where default risk is higher. If their investments mature, the returns are higher than they would be in a place with less risk. Effects of FDI The United States has higher FDI outflows than any other country, in large part because its economy is so large. In addition to seeking higher returns, some investors are interested in cultivating international relationships. This could be an effort to expand the consumer base, shore up supply chains, or for humanitarian or cultural reasons. For the receiving country, FDI means an increase in capital. For emerging markets, this can be critical. When the number of banks per country is low, capital access becomes difficult.

Foreign direct investment, net (BoP, current US$) in South Africa was reported at --6254237592 USD in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Foreign direct investment, net (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) in South Africa was reported at --2811906086 USD in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. South Africa - Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

In 2023, the total stock of FDI from China in South Africa amounted to about **** billion U.S. dollars. This was a decrease from **** billion U.S. dollars in the previous year.

Key information about South Africa Foreign Portfolio Investment

• South Africa Foreign Portfolio Investment increased by 2.539 USD bn in Sep 2024, compared with a drop of 1.080 USD bn in the previous quarter.
• South Africa Foreign Portfolio Investment: USD mn data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1985 to Sep 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 8.648 USD bn in Mar 2006 and a record low of -24.750 USD bn in Sep 2021.

CEIC converts quarterly Foreign Portfolio Investment into USD. The South African Reserve Bank provides Foreign Portfolio Investment in local currency. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions.


Related information about South Africa Foreign Portfolio Investment

• In the latest reports of South Africa, Current Account recorded a deficit of 932.535 USD mn in Mar 2023.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell by 180.362 USD mn in Sep 2024.
• South Africa Direct Investment Abroad fell by 955.154 USD mn in Sep 2024.
• The country's Nominal GDP was reported at 95.914 USD bn in Mar 2023.

In the years between 2003 and 2017, Nigeria attracted four billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI), representing the leading country of destination of foreign investment on the continent. Moreover, FDI in Egypt had a value of 2.9 billion U.S. dollars, while Cameroon and South Africa followed with 2.5 billion U.S. dollars each. In the same period, Western Africa attracted the highest value of FDI, exceeding eight billion U.S. dollars.

Egypt was the main recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa in 2022. That year, the country attracted nearly 11.4 billion U.S. dollars of FDI, an impressive growth compared to the previous years. South Africa and Ethiopia followed, with FDI reaching a value of 9.05 billion and 3.67 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, respectively. Large part of the annual FDI inflows into the African continent comes from China.

South Africa Foreign Investment: OT: SL: Manufacturing data was reported at 15,847.000 ZAR mn in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 15,134.000 ZAR mn for 2015. South Africa Foreign Investment: OT: SL: Manufacturing data is updated yearly, averaging 14,013.500 ZAR mn from Dec 2013 (Median) to 2016, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15,847.000 ZAR mn in 2016 and a record low of 12,534.000 ZAR mn in 2013. South Africa Foreign Investment: OT: SL: Manufacturing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by South African Reserve Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.O002: BPM6: Foreign Investment: by Industry.

The average for 2023 based on 40 countries was 0.65 billion U.S. dollars. The highest value was in South Africa: 3.44 billion U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Angola: -2.12 billion U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This statistic shows the number of new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects that have been initiated in different countries throughout Africa since 2003. As of *****************, the most new FDI projects in Africa had been started in South Africa at a total of ***.

As of the end of 2024, the Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in South Africa stood at ***** billion Japanese yen. This represented an increase from ***** billion yen in the previous year.