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NEW data released by the World Bank at the end of April shows that South Africa lost its title of number one in Africa years ago (relatively speaking - in 2011 in fact and more interestingly, it is not Nigeria at the top but Egypt).
Although the final International Comparison Program (ICP) 2011 report will be released only at the end of July, the World Bank has published their Comparing the Real Size of African Economies report, from which the following paragraph is taken verbatim:
The most striking feature is the changed position of Egypt, which was the second economy after South Africa in 2005 but by 2011 had become the largest in terms of real gross domestic product.
The change in rankings of Egypt and South Africa is explained by differences in the real growth of GDP over the six-year period: between 2005 and 2011, real GDP growth in Egypt averaged 5.4% per annum compared with only 3.3% in South Africa.
Note that we are speaking in terms of real GDP, which is calculated using purchasing power parities, and that there are three African powerhouses.
In a press release by the World Bank, we find that South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for about half of the African economy, quite a scary thought when the participating African economies totalled 50.
The ICP aims to provide a reliable basis for comparing GDP expenditures across countries and allows comparisons of the real value of production for each country, free from price and exchange rate distortions. Therefore, Egypt’s real value of production is evidently higher than South Africa’s.
What has contributed to Egypt’s success? Well, apart from their rather substantial real GDP growth rate, which sees them having the eighth highest per capita GDP on the continent, they are also counted among the cheapest economies in the world.
It is because of Egypt’s low prices that their real GDP shoots above our own – see Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: GDP in real (the yellow bar) and nominal (the blue bar) terms (ZAR million)
Source: Comparing the Real Size of African Economies
The ICP report and data spurred me on to also look at Egypt’s current GDP compared to that of South Africa, and Figure 2 shows what I found.
Egypt is on a strong upward growth path and if their low prices persist and their real value of production continues to outstrip our own, I wonder how long it will be until South Africa officially becomes the third largest economy in Africa.
Figure 2: Comparing current GDP for Egypt and South Africa
Source: World dataBank
- Fin24
* Geoffrey Chapman is a guest columnist and trade policy expert at the SABS. Views expressed are his own.
Although the final International Comparison Program (ICP) 2011 report will be released only at the end of July, the World Bank has published their Comparing the Real Size of African Economies report, from which the following paragraph is taken verbatim:
The most striking feature is the changed position of Egypt, which was the second economy after South Africa in 2005 but by 2011 had become the largest in terms of real gross domestic product.
The change in rankings of Egypt and South Africa is explained by differences in the real growth of GDP over the six-year period: between 2005 and 2011, real GDP growth in Egypt averaged 5.4% per annum compared with only 3.3% in South Africa.
Note that we are speaking in terms of real GDP, which is calculated using purchasing power parities, and that there are three African powerhouses.
In a press release by the World Bank, we find that South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for about half of the African economy, quite a scary thought when the participating African economies totalled 50.
The ICP aims to provide a reliable basis for comparing GDP expenditures across countries and allows comparisons of the real value of production for each country, free from price and exchange rate distortions. Therefore, Egypt’s real value of production is evidently higher than South Africa’s.
What has contributed to Egypt’s success? Well, apart from their rather substantial real GDP growth rate, which sees them having the eighth highest per capita GDP on the continent, they are also counted among the cheapest economies in the world.
It is because of Egypt’s low prices that their real GDP shoots above our own – see Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: GDP in real (the yellow bar) and nominal (the blue bar) terms (ZAR million)
Source: Comparing the Real Size of African Economies
The ICP report and data spurred me on to also look at Egypt’s current GDP compared to that of South Africa, and Figure 2 shows what I found.
Egypt is on a strong upward growth path and if their low prices persist and their real value of production continues to outstrip our own, I wonder how long it will be until South Africa officially becomes the third largest economy in Africa.
Figure 2: Comparing current GDP for Egypt and South Africa
Source: World dataBank
- Fin24
* Geoffrey Chapman is a guest columnist and trade policy expert at the SABS. Views expressed are his own.
