South Africa's rate of growth has, in the recent past, attracted the attention of the developed world and competes with that of other countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (which are the four largest emerging economies). Based on GDP growth predictions*, rate of inflation, government debt as percentage of GDP*, and the ease of doing business, in 2012 South Africa was ranked 15th on the list of emerging economies across the world in the Bloomberg Market Report*.
Annual average 2013-2017
Purchasing-power-parity basis
The recent global recession has taught the world economies some tough lessons:
- No economy in the world is wholly immune to global economic shocks (given the interconnectedness of world economies today);
- Governments need to closely monitor lending behavior by their financial institutions; and
- Volatility in the financial sector can have devastating consequences for the productive sector of the economy with potentially severe effects on levels of employment and household income.
Emerging markets rankings (2012)
