Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100) (Regulatory score 0-100) in South Africa

South Africa: Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100) (Regulatory score 0-100) was 54.32 0-100 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
54.32 0-100
Change on year
down 0.0%
World rank
99th
of 206 countries
All-time high
69.59 0-100
in 2003
All-time low
54.31 0-100
in 2023
Years of data
27
1996–2025

Regulatory Quality - Governance score in South Africa, 1996–2025

02040601996201020251996: 60 0-1001998: 62.6 0-1002000: 63.8 0-1002002: 69.2 0-1002003: 69.6 0-1002004: 65.8 0-1002005: 66.1 0-1002006: 67.1 0-1002007: 66.2 0-1002008: 66.2 0-1002009: 66.8 0-1002010: 67.2 0-1002011: 66.6 0-1002012: 66.3 0-1002013: 66.2 0-1002014: 62.8 0-1002015: 61.1 0-1002016: 60.3 0-1002017: 59.8 0-1002018: 57.1 0-1002019: 58 0-1002020: 57.7 0-1002021: 56.5 0-1002022: 55.1 0-1002023: 54.3 0-1002024: 54.3 0-1002025: 54.3 0-100

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in 0-100.

Analysis

The most recent figure for regulatory quality - governance score in South Africa is 54.32 0-100, measured in 2025.

The figure is down 11.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, regulatory quality - governance score in South Africa peaked at 69.59 0-100 in 2003 and was at its lowest, 54.31 0-100, in 2023.

South Africa ranks 99th of 206 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.

Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100) (Regulatory score 0-100) in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100) in South Africa, 1996 to 2025.
Year 0-100 Change
1996 59.97 0-100 —
1998 62.63 0-100 +4.4%
2000 63.75 0-100 +1.8%
2002 69.2 0-100 +8.6%
2003 69.59 0-100 +0.6%
2004 65.8 0-100 -5.4%
2005 66.08 0-100 +0.4%
2006 67.12 0-100 +1.6%
2007 66.24 0-100 -1.3%
2008 66.21 0-100 -0.0%
2009 66.83 0-100 +0.9%
2010 67.23 0-100 +0.6%
2011 66.63 0-100 -0.9%
2012 66.33 0-100 -0.5%
2013 66.2 0-100 -0.2%
2014 62.76 0-100 -5.2%
2015 61.08 0-100 -2.7%
2016 60.28 0-100 -1.3%
2017 59.81 0-100 -0.8%
2018 57.14 0-100 -4.5%
2019 57.98 0-100 +1.5%
2020 57.74 0-100 -0.4%
2021 56.47 0-100 -2.2%
2022 55.07 0-100 -2.5%
2023 54.31 0-100 -1.4%
2024 54.33 0-100 +0.0%
2025 54.32 0-100 -0.0%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 54.32 0-100 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 53.89 0-100, 1.0× the median. (59 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 54.32 0-100 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 42.93 0-100, 1.3× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 61.3 0-100 59.97 0-100 62.63 0-100 2
2000s 66.76 0-100 63.75 0-100 69.59 0-100 9
2010s 62.54 0-100 57.14 0-100 67.23 0-100 10
2020s 55.37 0-100 54.31 0-100 57.74 0-100 6

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 96 Paraguay 54.99 0-100 compare
  2. 97 Mongolia 54.65 0-100 compare
  3. 98 Moldova 54.59 0-100 compare
  4. 100 Samoa 54.2 0-100 compare
  5. 101 Bahamas 53.98 0-100 compare
  6. 102 Argentina 53.89 0-100 compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is regulatory quality - governance score in South Africa?
Regulatory quality - governance score in South Africa was 54.32 0-100 in 2025, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
What is the highest regulatory quality - governance score recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 69.59 0-100 in 2003.
What is the lowest regulatory quality - governance score recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 54.31 0-100 in 2023.
How does South Africa rank for regulatory quality - governance score?
South Africa ranks 99th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
Is regulatory quality - governance score rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Regulatory Quality - Governance score in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 13 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/regulatory-quality-governance-score-0-100/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100)
Unit
0-100
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
206 places, 5,391 data points, 1996–2025
Last refreshed

Regulatory Quality (RQ) captures perceptions of the government’s ability to design and implement policies and regulations that promote private sector development. Governance score is a linear transformation of the governance estimate using hypothetical worst-case and base-case countries. It is an absolute score ranging from 0-100. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) confidence intervals (lower and upper bound). The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance score (respectively the underlying governance estimate) is based. The confidence intervals include the lower and upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for the governance score. Confidence intervals are a statistical range of values that likely contain the true value (of what is being estimated).