National Debt of South Africa

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The national debt of South Africa is the total quantity of money borrowed by the Government of South Africa at any time through the issue of securities by the South African Treasury and other government agencies.

As of 2025/26 the gross South African government debt was R6.09 trillion (US$412.04 billion), with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 77.4%.

Roughly 90% of the national debt in 2019/20 was denominated in South African rand thereby reducing borrowing risk due to currency fluctuations. By September 2020 around US$157 billion of South Africa's national debt was externally owned. As of December 2021 the share of domestic bonds held by foreign investors was 28.2%, this represented a declined to a 10-year low.