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Where does South Africa get its cars? Import sources 2024

In 2024, South Africa imported $3.6 billion of cars (277 thousand tonnes), 0.4% of the world total. Its main sources were India (34%), China (17%) and Germany (14%). South Africa was the world’s 37th-largest importer of cars.

Summary

Value
$3.6billion
Tonnes
277thousand tonnes
Share of world total
0.4%
World rank
37th
Routes from the main sources. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Sources

The 20 main sources in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
India1.2Tonnes: 81,052USD per tonne: $15,07734%Sea
China0.62Tonnes: 84,512USD per tonne: $7,33717.3%Sea
Germany0.5Tonnes: 33,006USD per tonne: $15,04013.8%Sea
Japan0.28Tonnes: 18,385USD per tonne: $15,1227.7%Sea
United States0.18Tonnes: 7,235USD per tonne: $25,2605.1%Sea
Thailand0.11Tonnes: 11,747USD per tonne: $9,5953.1%Sea
Spain0.11Tonnes: 8,965USD per tonne: $12,2153%Sea
United Kingdom0.11Tonnes: 4,797USD per tonne: $22,8153%Sea
Slovakia0.09Tonnes: 5,449USD per tonne: $17,3742.6%Sea
Mexico0.07Tonnes: —USD per tonne: —2%Sea
South Korea0.05Tonnes: 5,501USD per tonne: $9,3081.4%Sea
Portugal0.05Tonnes: 4,333USD per tonne: $10,9551.3%Sea
Hungary0.04Tonnes: 2,922USD per tonne: $15,0471.2%Sea
Italy0.03Tonnes: 275USD per tonne: $116,2560.89%Air
Indonesia0.03Tonnes: 2,973USD per tonne: $8,6450.71%Sea
France0.02Tonnes: 1,194USD per tonne: $15,9230.54%Sea
Poland0.02Tonnes: 1,693USD per tonne: $10,6270.5%Sea
Austria0.02Tonnes: 600USD per tonne: $25,9800.43%Sea
Romania0.01Tonnes: 977USD per tonne: $15,2570.41%Sea
Sweden0.01Tonnes: 396USD per tonne: $17,9060.2%Sea

Trend

Who it buys from

India has been its main source since 2020

Value in USD billions. The five largest sources in 2024.

  • India 1.2
  • China 0.62
  • Germany 0.5
  • Japan 0.28
  • United States 0.18

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
India< 0.011.2
China< 0.010.62
Germany0.340.5
Japan0.540.28
United States0.010.18

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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