South Africa's Informal Economy Size

INFORMAL ECONOMY SIZE AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP (%)

An informal economy (informal sector or shadow economy) is the part of any economy that is neither officially taxed nor monitored. Read more about the World Economics Informal Economy database

The size of South Africa's informal economy is estimated to be 29% which represents approximately $250 billion at GDP PPP levels.

South Africa's data is highlighted in the table below, use the filter and sort order options to allow easy comparison with other countries.

Data source: Quarterly Informal Economy Survey (QIES) by World Economics, London


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Informal Econony Size (% of GDP): Latest Data World Economics GDP
Data Quality Rating
(A-E)



Afghanistan 73.6% E
Zimbabwe 64.7% E
Nigeria 58.2% E
Haiti 55.5% E
Bolivia 55.0% E
Nicaragua 52.9% D
Gabon 51.8% E
Panama 51.8% D
Benin 49.2% C
Myanmar 49.0% D
Guatemala 48.8% D
Congo, Dem. Rep 48.5% E
Tanzania 47.0% D
Paraguay 46.6% D
Georgia 46.5% B
Thailand 46.5% D
Honduras 46.0% E
Central African Republic 44.4% E
Gambia 44.3% D
Ukraine 44.2% C
Liberia 42.7% E
Peru 42.2% D
El Salvador 41.1% C
Eswatini 41.1% D
Cambodia 41.0% E
Moldova 41.0% B
Cote d'Ivoire 40.8% C
Congo, Rep. 40.2% E
Angola 39.7% E
Armenia 39.4% B
Guinea 38.9% E
Zambia 38.8% D
Russia 38.2% C
Belarus 37.9% C
India 37.9% C
Senegal 37.8% C
Sierra Leone 37.6% D
Ecuador 37.5% D
Tajikistan 37.2% E
Azerbaijan 37.1% D
Niger 36.8% C
Burundi 36.6% E
Comoros 36.6% D
Madagascar 36.5% E
Ghana 35.8% C
Guinea-Bissau 35.7% E
Pakistan 35.7% D
Sudan 35.7% E
Libya 35.3% E
Egypt 35.0% D
Papua New Guinea 34.9% E
Turkmenistan 34.8% D
Chad 34.7% E
Uganda 34.5% D
Philippines 34.4% C
Mozambique 34.3% D
Dominican Republic 34.0% B
Ethiopia 33.7% E
Brazil 33.5% B
North Macedonia 33.5% B
Colombia 33.4% B
Burkina Faso 33.3% C
Mali 33.3% E
Nepal 33.3% E
Bosnia and Herzegovina 33.2% D
Jamaica 33.1% E
Suriname 33.1% C
Kenya 32.8% D
Albania 32.5% C
Kazakhstan 32.1% D
Uruguay 32.0% B
Morocco 31.8% C
Lebanon 31.6% D
Mauritania 31.6% D
Rwanda 31.4% C
Serbia 31.4% B
Türkiye 31.4% B
Kyrgyzstan 31.1% D
Sri Lanka 31.1% C
Lesotho 31.0% C
Malawi 30.8% C
Tunisia 30.6% D
Bahamas, The 30.3% B
Bangladesh 30.3% E
Cameroon 30.1% D
Argentina 30.0% C
Croatia 29.8% B
Togo 29.7% C
Mexico 29.4% C
Guyana 29.3% E
South Africa 29.0% B
Bulgaria 28.0% B
Malta 27.8% B
Laos 27.4% E
Yemen, Rep. 27.4% E
Cyprus 27.3% A
Uzbekistan 27.3% D
Greece 27.1% B
Costa Rica 26.8% B
Botswana 26.7% C
Malaysia 25.3% B
Latvia 25.1% B
Namibia 24.7% C
Italy 24.0% A
Slovenia 24.0% A
Romania 23.8% B
Hungary 23.5% B
Bhutan 22.9% E
Korea, Rep. 22.9% A
Saudi Arabia 22.9% C
Indonesia 22.6% C
Estonia 22.5% B
Poland 22.5% B
Taiwan 22.4% A
Lithuania 21.8% B
Spain 21.5% A
Israel 21.0% A
Mauritius 20.6% B
Vietnam 20.6% E
United Arab Emirates 20.5% B
Portugal 20.4% A
Kuwait 20.3% D
Oman 19.9% B
Chile 19.5% A
Belgium 19.3% A
Algeria 17.5% C
Bahrain 17.3% C
Jordan 17.0% B
Qatar 16.7% B
Norway 15.8% A
Denmark 15.3% A
Mongolia 15.2% B
Slovak Republic 14.9% B
Finland 14.7% A
Czechia 14.5% A
Iceland 13.9% A
Hong Kong 13.7% A
Sweden 13.6% A
France 13.2% A
China 12.7% C
Ireland 12.4% A
Canada 11.3% A
Germany 11.2% A
Singapore 10.5% A
New Zealand 10.1% A
United Kingdom 10.1% A
Luxembourg 10.0% A
Netherlands 10.0% A
Australia 9.9% A
Japan 9.6% A
Austria 8.8% A
Switzerland 7.5% A
United States 7.2% A


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Data quality rating definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality









SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMICS
SOUTH AFRICA'S DEMOGRAPHY
SOUTH AFRICA'S ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL & GOVERNANCE
PUBLIC SOURCE & RELATED DATA

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