Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) in South Africa
South Africa: Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) was 16.1 DB16-20 methodology in 2019. ▲ Rising
Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) in South Africa, 2014–2019
Source: World Bank. Measured in DB16-20 methodology.
Analysis
The most recent figure for getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) in South Africa is 16.1 DB16-20 methodology, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 6 years on record.
That represents a change of up 8.8% on the previous year and up 62.6% over ten years.
South Africa ranks 92nd of 187 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) in South Africa, year by year
| Year | DB16-20 methodology | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 9.9 DB16-20 methodology | — |
| 2015 | 9.3 DB16-20 methodology | -6.1% |
| 2016 | 15.4 DB16-20 methodology | +65.6% |
| 2017 | 15.1 DB16-20 methodology | -1.9% |
| 2018 | 14.8 DB16-20 methodology | -2.0% |
| 2019 | 16.1 DB16-20 methodology | +8.8% |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 89 Mexico 16.5 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 89 Eswatini 16.5 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 91 Botswana 16.3 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 92 Hong Kong, China 16.1 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 94 Slovakia 15.6 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 95 North Macedonia 15.5 DB16-20 methodology compare
- 95 San Marino 15.5 DB16-20 methodology compare
More private sector data for South Africa
- Merchandise trade 57.2% (2025)
- Food imports 7.2% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 62.1% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 128.08 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 38.3% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 116.40 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,798 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2725 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.74 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) in South Africa?
- Getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) in South Africa was 16.1 DB16-20 methodology in 2019, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 16.1 DB16-20 methodology in 2019.
- What is the lowest getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.3 DB16-20 methodology in 2015.
- How does South Africa rank for getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh)?
- South Africa ranks 92nd out of 187 countries with data for 2019.
- Is getting electricity: price of electricity (us cents per kwh) rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 62.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) (DB16-20 methodology). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 6 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The price of electricity is measured in U.S. cents per kWh. A monthly electricity consumption is assumed, for which a bill is then computed for a warehouse based in the largest business city of the economy for the month of March. The bill is then expressed back as a unit of kWh. The index is computed based on the methodology in the DB16-20 studies.