n into the
global economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$270 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 3% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$6,200 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 37%
services: 58% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 9.7% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 14.2 million economically active (1996)
by occupation: services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%,
other 6%

Unemployment rate: 30% (1997 est.); note-an additional 11% of the
workforce is underemployed

Budget:
revenues: $30.5 billion
expenditures: $38 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6
billion (FY94/95 est.)

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold,
chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron
and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Industrial production growth rate: 1.2% (1996 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 34.566 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 163.56 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 3,559 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables;
beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

Exports:
total value: $31.3 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: gold 20%, other minerals and metals 20%-25%, food 5%,
chemicals 3% (1997)
partners: Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EU countries, Hong Kong

Imports:
total value: $28 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%,
petroleum products, textiles, scientific instruments (1994)
partners: Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy

Debt-external: $23.5 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA
note: current aid pledges include US $600 million over three years,
1994-96; UK $150 million over three years; Australia $21 million over
three years; Japan $1.3 billion over two years ending in 1996; EU $833
million over five years

Currency: 1 rand (R) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: rand (R) per US$1-4.94193 (January 1998), 4.60796
(1997), 4.29935 (1996), 3.62709 (1995), 3.55080 (1994), 3.26774 (1993)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Communications

Telephones: 5,206,235 (1993 est.)

Telephone system: the system is the best developed, most modern, and
has the highest capacity in Africa
domestic: consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial
cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, and
radiotelephone communicati