South Africa Economic Forecast
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As an emerging market, South Africa has a huge supply of natural resources. In addition to this, the country is well developed in a number of sectors to include communications, financial, energy, legal, and transport. The facilities and infrastructure of this part of the world is modern and capable of supporting distribution of favorable to urban areas. From 2004 to the first part of 2008, South Africa experienced incredible growth but when the global financial crisis hit, commodity prices were affected.
As an emerging market, South Africa has a huge supply of natural resources. In addition to this, the country is well developed in a number of sectors to include communications, financial, energy, legal, and transport. The facilities and infrastructure of this part of the world is modern and capable of supporting distribution of favorable to urban areas. From 2004 to the first part of 2008, South Africa experienced incredible growth but when the global financial crisis hit, commodity prices were affected.
One challenge that South Africa faced during the latter part of 2007 was low supply of electrical power due to outdated plants. Because of this, it was mandatory to reduce supply to both homes and businesses in the larger metropolitan cities. Of course, challenges still linger from the days of apartheid to include high levels of poverty, shortage of public transportation, and issues regarding economic empowerment. Today, the government is focusing on lowering inflation rates, sustaining a better budget surplus, and getting basic services to areas of low income families to boost both income and employment opportunities.
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South Africa GDP Forecast
Even though the South Africa GDP (Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices, US Dollars) has been hampered by a variety of challenges, this part of the world remains one of the more stable economies in the continent. Improvements across the country are still needed but overall, South Africa has a well-developed basic infrastructure. Today, South Africa’s officials are working hard to better agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors. During the financial crisis, the GDP in 2008 was reported at $276.77 billion in US dollars. From that time to the end of 2009, numbers were virtually unchanged as the year-end was at $287.219 billion, ranking South Africa at number 32 worldwide for 2009. For the close of 2010, experts expect a slightly larger increase around 14.75%, which would close the year at $329.34 billion. However, for 2015, a greater change is being predicted, which would put the GDP at $429.591 billion in US dollars.
South Africa Unemployment Forecast
For the South Africa population, the latest report for 2009 was at almost 50 million. Unfortunately, this country experiences excessive mortality because of the AIDS virus. Most people who work have jobs in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Johannesburg, the four cities with the most job opportunity. While economic improvements have been seen, the South Africa unemployment rate is still horrifically high at just over 25% and growing.
South Africa Inflation Rate Forecast
To determine the South Africa inflation rate, experts use averages for the year being forecasted rather than end-of-period data. For this, the average consumer prices are based on an index of 2000=100. The 2008 numbers were reported at 11.50%. Over the next year, a reduction of 38.19% occurred, closing 2009 at 7.111% and putting South Africa at number 44 for world rankings. In 2010, experts predict the inflation rate will be reduced to 5.79% and by 2015, reduced even further to 4.547%.
South Africa Current Account Balance Forecast
Forecasters also predict numbers for the South Africa current account balance, which is based on all transactions except capital and financial items. By year-end 2009, the number was minus $11.446 billion in US dollars, a 41.58% reduction from 2008 that closed at minus $19.59 billion. As far as the future, predictions are at minus $16.32 billion by year-end 2010 but a more significant change is expected by year-end 2015, closing the current account balance out at minus $31.634 billion, US dollars.
