Starting a business - Score in South Africa
South Africa: Starting a business - Score was 81.22 in 2019. ▲ Rising
Starting a business - Score in South Africa, 2003–2019
Source: World Bank.
Analysis
In 2019, starting a business - score in South Africa stood at 81.22.
The figure is up 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, starting a business - score in South Africa peaked at 81.43 in 2013 and was at its lowest, 73.11, in 2003.
South Africa ranks 140th of 191 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Starting a business - Score in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 73.11 | — |
| 2004 | 73.15 | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 73.97 | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 74.19 | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 75.62 | +1.9% |
| 2008 | 80.72 | +6.7% |
| 2009 | 80.73 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 80.72 | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 81.42 | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 81.43 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 81.43 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 79.71 | -2.1% |
| 2015 | 79.71 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 79.96 | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 79.97 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 81.22 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 81.22 | +0.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 81.22 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 86.74, 94% of the median. (56 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 81.22 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 83.5, 97% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 75.93 | 73.11 | 80.73 | 7 |
| 2010s | 80.68 | 79.71 | 81.43 | 10 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
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 starting a business - score in South Africa?
- Starting a business - score in South Africa was 81.22 in 2019, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest starting a business - score recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 81.43 in 2013.
- What is the lowest starting a business - score recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 73.11 in 2003.
- How does South Africa rank for starting a business - score?
- South Africa ranks 140th out of 191 countries with data for 2019.
- Is starting a business - score rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.6%. 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 Starting a business - Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The score for starting a business is the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators: the procedures, time and cost for an entrepreneur to start and formally operate a business, as well as the paid-in minimum capital requirement.