ZAF · snapshot 2026-08-09
South Africa
HighOverall risk score
51.5
Percentile of scored universe
56th
Data coverage
97%
vs Australia (16.1)
+35.4
Category breakdown
Political Stability & Governance
High6 indicators · 100% coverage
Economic Resilience
High7 indicators · 100% coverage
Financial & Currency Risk
High5 indicators · 100% coverage
Business Environment
Medium3 indicators · 75% coverage
Security & Crime
Very High4 indicators · 100% coverage
Climate & Social Compliance
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Technology & Digital
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Cultural Distance
Low9 indicators · 100% coverage · not in overall score
Key risks and considerations
South Africa rates High for market entry — an overall risk score of 51.5, riskier than 56% of rated economies and 35 points riskier than Australia.
The main risk drivers are no investment-treaty protection with Australia, pervasive organised crime (7.4/10), violent crime (43.7 homicides per 100k), heavy public debt (net 75.9% of GDP) and a restricted capital account that complicates repatriating profits.
Relative strengths: inflation, FX reserves, current account all rate Low, the least-risky rating band.
Possible mitigations
- Organised crime. Expect extortion, counterfeiting, and cargo-theft exposure: harden supply-chain security, vet logistics partners and distributors carefully, and avoid cash-heavy channels.
- Getting money out. Confirm profit-repatriation channels before committing capital: seek central-bank pre-approvals where required, consider an export-first model over an in-country entity, and structure via clear remittance jurisdictions.
- Payment fraud. Experts nominate this market as a cybercrime origin (World Cybercrime Index, 2021 survey): verify any change of bank details out-of-band, enforce MFA and dual authorisation on payments, and be sceptical of unsolicited counterparties.
Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.
Indicators
| Indicator | Value | Risk score | Rating | Australia | Data source year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability & Governance | ||||||
| Voice & accountability (WGI) | 67.5 | 29.0 | Medium | |||
| Government effectiveness (WGI) | 46.9 | 59.3 | High | |||
| Regulatory quality (WGI) | 53.9 | 47.6 | Medium | |||
| Rule of law (WGI) | 57.3 | 47.1 | Medium | |||
| Control of corruption (WGI) | 44.0 | 48.1 | Medium | |||
| Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV) | 55.4 | 75.1 | Very High | |||
| Economic Resilience | ||||||
| GDP growth (3-yr average, %) | 0.8% (3-yr avg) | 70.0 | High | |||
| Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp) | ±2.7 pp | 34.9 | Medium | |||
| Government net debt (% of GDP) | 75.9 | 80.0 | Very High | |||
| Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target) | 3.2 | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP) | -0.7% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| FX reserves (months of import cover) | 6.2 months | 10.0 | Low | |||
| GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $) | $15,906 | 60.1 | High | |||
| Financial & Currency Risk | ||||||
| Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN) | 0.16 | 78.0 | Very High | |||
| Currency stability (regime-aware classification) | Floating — normal volatility (8–13%) | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification) | Category 4 / 7 | 45.0 | Medium | |||
| FATF listing (grey / black list status) | Not listed | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Double-tax agreement with Australia | In force | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Business Environment | ||||||
| FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI) | 0.03 | 40.8 | Medium | |||
| Logistics performance (World Bank LPI) | 3.7 | 14.9 | Low | |||
| Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter) | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Security & Crime | ||||||
| Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr) | 0.0 | 73.5 | High | |||
| Intentional homicide rate (per 100k) | 43.7 | 96.2 | Very High | |||
| Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score) | 7.4 | 96.6 | Very High | |||
| DFAT Smartraveller advisory level | Level 2 — Exercise a high degree of caution | 40.0 | Medium | |||
| Climate & Social Compliance | ||||||
| Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability) | 0.436 | 46.1 | Medium | |||
| Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index) | 4.8 | 70.4 | High | |||
| Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000) | 2.7 | 17.2 | Low | |||
| Modern-slavery vulnerability score | 52.2 | 56.6 | High | |||
| Technology & Digital | ||||||
| E-government development (UN EGDI) | 0.9 | 20.5 | Low | |||
| Internet users (% of population) | 78.4 | 56.2 | High | |||
| Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index) | 2.6 | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| Secure internet servers (per million people) | 16658.2 | 22.1 | Low | |||
Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.
Cultural distance
GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score
Context — not scored
Unemployment
32.4%
Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)
Trade agreement
No Australian FTA in force
Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.
Regional advisories
No higher regional advisory levels
DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.
Compare with
A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to South Africa in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.