Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods in South Africa
South Africa: Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods was 0.7226 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods in South Africa, 1992–2025
Source: World Bank staff calculations based on Datastream data.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.7226 for foreign reserves, months import cover, goods in 2025.
The figure is up 11.0% on the previous year and up 35.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, foreign reserves, months import cover, goods in South Africa peaked at 0.7995 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.105, in 1996.
South Africa ranks 37th of 116 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 0.1778 | — |
| 1993 | 0.1248 | -29.8% |
| 1994 | 0.1454 | +16.5% |
| 1995 | 0.1939 | +33.4% |
| 1996 | 0.105 | -45.9% |
| 1997 | 0.3082 | +193.6% |
| 1998 | 0.2573 | -16.5% |
| 1999 | 0.3684 | +43.2% |
| 2000 | 0.372 | +1.0% |
| 2001 | 0.2838 | -23.7% |
| 2002 | 0.2147 | -24.3% |
| 2003 | 0.1844 | -14.1% |
| 2004 | 0.2798 | +51.7% |
| 2005 | 0.3289 | +17.6% |
| 2006 | 0.3509 | +6.7% |
| 2007 | 0.6417 | +82.9% |
| 2008 | 0.5197 | -19.0% |
| 2009 | 0.4863 | -6.4% |
| 2010 | 0.5276 | +8.5% |
| 2011 | 0.4759 | -9.8% |
| 2012 | 0.4867 | +2.3% |
| 2013 | 0.479 | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 0.4919 | +2.7% |
| 2015 | 0.5347 | +8.7% |
| 2016 | 0.6301 | +17.9% |
| 2017 | 0.6086 | -3.4% |
| 2018 | 0.5557 | -8.7% |
| 2019 | 0.6251 | +12.5% |
| 2020 | 0.7995 | +27.9% |
| 2021 | 0.626 | -21.7% |
| 2022 | 0.554 | -11.5% |
| 2023 | 0.5932 | +7.1% |
| 2024 | 0.6508 | +9.7% |
| 2025 | 0.7226 | +11.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.7226 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.6174, 1.2× the median. (39 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.7226 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.6257, 1.2× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | +193.6% | 0.105 | 0.3082 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.2101 | 0.105 | 0.3684 | 8 |
| 2000s | 0.3662 | 0.1844 | 0.6417 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5415 | 0.4759 | 0.6301 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6577 | 0.554 | 0.7995 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More reference data data for South Africa
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5111 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 8.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 13.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.7468 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 13.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.49 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 41.1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 63.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 4.07 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is foreign reserves, months import cover, goods in South Africa?
- Foreign reserves, months import cover, goods in South Africa was 0.7226 in 2025, according to World Bank staff calculations based on Datastream data.
- What is the highest foreign reserves, months import cover, goods recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7995 in 2020.
- What is the lowest foreign reserves, months import cover, goods recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.105 in 1996.
- How does South Africa rank for foreign reserves, months import cover, goods?
- South Africa ranks 37th out of 116 countries with data for 2025.
- Is foreign reserves, months import cover, goods rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 35.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank staff calculations based on Datastream data, published as part of Foreign Reserves, Months Import Cover, Goods. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The stock of international reserves is expressed as the number of months of financing-coverage it represents for the given country's imports of merchandise goods.