Venture capital investments in South Africa
South Africa: Venture capital investments was 0.0068 Percentage of GDP in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Venture capital investments in South Africa, 2007–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.0068 Percentage of GDP for venture capital investments in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 18 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 68.1% on the previous year and down 89.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, venture capital investments in South Africa peaked at 0.1825 Percentage of GDP in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.0068 Percentage of GDP, in 2024.
That places South Africa 27th out of 28 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Venture capital investments in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Percentage of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 0.0217 Percentage of GDP | — |
| 2008 | 0.0326 Percentage of GDP | +50.1% |
| 2009 | 0.01 Percentage of GDP | -69.3% |
| 2010 | 0.0197 Percentage of GDP | +96.5% |
| 2011 | 0.0218 Percentage of GDP | +10.8% |
| 2012 | 0.0249 Percentage of GDP | +14.1% |
| 2013 | 0.0402 Percentage of GDP | +61.4% |
| 2014 | 0.0632 Percentage of GDP | +57.3% |
| 2015 | 0.0254 Percentage of GDP | -59.7% |
| 2016 | 0.0401 Percentage of GDP | +57.4% |
| 2017 | 0.1825 Percentage of GDP | +355.6% |
| 2018 | 0.0559 Percentage of GDP | -69.3% |
| 2019 | 0.1244 Percentage of GDP | +122.5% |
| 2020 | 0.0324 Percentage of GDP | -74.0% |
| 2021 | 0.0097 Percentage of GDP | -70.1% |
| 2022 | 0.0165 Percentage of GDP | +70.7% |
| 2023 | 0.0213 Percentage of GDP | +29.2% |
| 2024 | 0.0068 Percentage of GDP | -68.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.0215 Percentage of GDP | 0.01 Percentage of GDP | 0.0326 Percentage of GDP | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.0598 Percentage of GDP | 0.0197 Percentage of GDP | 0.1825 Percentage of GDP | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.0173 Percentage of GDP | 0.0068 Percentage of GDP | 0.0324 Percentage of GDP | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More economy & growth data for South Africa
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 0.4836 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 1.4 Percent per annum (2029)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current LCU) 5.85 % change on previous year (2025)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current LCU) 11.78 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current LCU) 77,700 current LCU per person (2025)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015) 3.56 % change on previous year (2025)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015) 0.5921 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015) 3,907 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Final consumption expenditure (current US$), annual growth rate 7.63 % change on previous year (2025)
- Final consumption expenditure (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.8472 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is venture capital investments in South Africa?
- Venture capital investments in South Africa was 0.0068 Percentage of GDP in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest venture capital investments recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.1825 Percentage of GDP in 2017.
- What is the lowest venture capital investments recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0068 Percentage of GDP in 2024.
- How does South Africa rank for venture capital investments?
- South Africa ranks 27th out of 28 countries with data for 2024.
- Is venture capital investments rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 89.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Venture capital investments (market statistics). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
In the OECD Entrepreneurship Financing Database, venture capital is made up of the sum of early stage (including pre-seed, seed, start-up and other early stage) and later stage venture capital. As there are no harmonised definitions of venture capital stages across venture capital associations and other data providers, original data have been re-aggregated to fit the OECD classification of venture capital by stages. Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and South Africa do not provide breakdowns of venture capital by stage that would allow meaningful international comparisons. The attached table shows the correspondences between original data and OECD harmonised data for venture capital investments by stage. https://webfs-sdd.oecd.org/files/.Stat/VC_INV/VC_OECD_HarmonisedStages.xlsx Venture capital is a form of equity financing particularly relevant for young companies with innovation and growth potential but untested business models and no track record; it replaces or complements traditional bank finance. The development of the venture capital industry is considered an important framework condition to stimulate innovative entrepreneurship. Aggregate data on venture capital provide useful information on trends in the venture capital industry. These data are typically compiled by national or regional Private Equity and Venture Capital Associations, often with the support of commercial data providers. The quality and availability of aggregate data on venture capital have improved considerably in recent years; international comparisons, however, remain complicated because of two main problems. The first difficulty comes from the lack of a standard international definition of venture capital. While there is a general understanding, the definition of the types of investments included in venture capital varies across countries and regions. In some cases, differences are purely linguistic; in others, they are more substantive. The second problem relates to the diverse methodologies employed by data compilers. The completeness and representativeness of venture capital statistics with respect to the venture capital industry of a country will differ depending on how data were collected. The units used are : Millions of US Dollars and share of GDP. OECD statistics contact: stat.contact@oecd.org