France vs South Africa: Current account balance
Current account balance over time
- France
- South Africa
How they compare
France currently reports -0.3% against -0.4% in South Africa, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 8 times across 51 shared years of data; in 1975 it was France ahead.
France ranks 83rd and South Africa ranks 86th of 200 countries.
Across the 6 decades both report, France averaged higher in 4 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.4% | -0.6% | 1.0% | France |
| 1980s | -0.6% | 0.8% | 1.4% | South Africa |
| 1990s | 1.1% | -0.0% | 1.1% | France |
| 2000s | 0.3% | -2.2% | 2.5% | France |
| 2010s | -0.6% | -3.3% | 2.7% | France |
| 2020s | -0.7% | 0.6% | 1.3% | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher current account balance, France or South Africa?
- France, at -0.3% against -0.4% in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in current account balance between France and South Africa?
- 0.1%, with France ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and South Africa?
- 51 years are reported by both, from 1975 to 2025.
- How do France and South Africa rank globally for current account balance?
- France ranks 83rd and South Africa ranks 86th of 200 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as Current account balance (% of GDP). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.