Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa
South Africa: Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products was 4.7% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa, 1988–2022
Source: World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 4.7% for tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in 2022.
The figure is up 4.5% on the previous year and up 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa peaked at 13.4% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 3.9%, in 2014.
South Africa ranks 85th of 184 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 30 years of available data.
Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 13.4% | — |
| 1990 | 10.5% | -21.6% |
| 1991 | 11.3% | +7.8% |
| 1993 | 13.4% | +18.8% |
| 1996 | 8.3% | -38.5% |
| 1997 | 6.0% | -27.6% |
| 1999 | 5.5% | -8.7% |
| 2000 | 5.3% | -3.7% |
| 2001 | 5.1% | -3.2% |
| 2002 | 5.0% | -2.9% |
| 2003 | 5.2% | +4.0% |
| 2004 | 5.3% | +2.7% |
| 2005 | 5.6% | +6.6% |
| 2006 | 5.3% | -6.2% |
| 2007 | 4.8% | -9.1% |
| 2008 | 3.9% | -18.9% |
| 2009 | 4.3% | +10.8% |
| 2010 | 4.6% | +6.2% |
| 2011 | 4.4% | -4.4% |
| 2012 | 4.2% | -3.9% |
| 2013 | 4.2% | -1.7% |
| 2014 | 3.9% | -6.7% |
| 2015 | 4.4% | +13.2% |
| 2016 | 4.5% | +3.0% |
| 2017 | 4.6% | +2.2% |
| 2018 | 4.3% | -6.3% |
| 2019 | 5.4% | +24.3% |
| 2020 | 4.4% | -18.1% |
| 2021 | 4.5% | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 4.7% | +4.5% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 4.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 1.2× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 4.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 8.8%, 53% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 13.4% | 13.4% | 13.4% | 1 |
| 1990s | 9.2% | 5.5% | 13.4% | 6 |
| 2000s | 5.0% | 3.9% | 5.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.4% | 3.9% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 3 |
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 tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa?
- Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products in South Africa was 4.7% in 2022, according to World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest tariff rate for primary and manufactured products recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 13.4% in 1993.
- What is the lowest tariff rate for primary and manufactured products recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.9% in 2014.
- How does South Africa rank for tariff rate for primary and manufactured products?
- South Africa ranks 85th out of 184 countries with data for 2022.
- Is tariff rate for primary and manufactured products rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Tariff rate for primary and manufactured products. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Weighted mean applied tariff is the average of effectively applied rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country.