How dependent is South Africa on China?

and 214 more

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• China sells 46.2% of what the world exports of cameras and broadcast equipment; next come Vietnam (13.1%), Taiwan (4.4%) and India (4.3%). The rest of the world exported 173.9 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 38.7% of what the world exports of computers; next come Taiwan (14.2%), Mexico (12.6%) and Vietnam (7%). The rest of the world exported 235 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 34.6% of what the world exports of transformers and power supplies; next come Germany (7%), Mexico (4.5%) and Japan (3.9%). The rest of the world exported 206.5 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 50.8% of what the world exports of batteries; next come South Korea (6.1%), United States (5.4%) and Poland (5.4%). The rest of the world exported 157.9 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 31.2% of what the world exports of generating sets; next come Germany (11.9%), United States (10.6%) and Denmark (4.5%). The rest of the world exported 43.2 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 39.2% of what the world exports of diodes, transistors and solar cells; next come Malaysia (8.6%), Japan (7.4%) and Vietnam (5.9%). The rest of the world exported 226.4 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 50.6% of what the world exports of rubber and plastic footwear; next come Vietnam (16.4%), Indonesia (6%) and Germany (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 64.3 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 27.6% of what the world exports of coated flat steel; next come South Korea (10.3%), Germany (7.2%) and Belgium (4.8%). The rest of the world exported 149.9 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 48% of what the world exports of electric heaters and hair dryers; next come Germany (5.9%), Italy (4.2%) and Mexico (4%). The rest of the world exported 148.5 times what South Africa buys from China.
• China sells 56.2% of what the world exports of phones and telecom equipment; next come Vietnam (11.1%), South Korea (5.6%) and Taiwan (3.4%). The rest of the world exported 126.8 times what South Africa buys from China.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

South Africa is China’s 30th-largest customer, with 0.62% of its exports.

• Trade between South Africa and China
• Who does South Africa rely on?
• Who does China rely on?
• Dependence of South Africa on Tanzania
• Dependence of South Africa on Zimbabwe
• Dependence of South Africa on Mozambique
• Dependence of South Africa on Eswatini
• Dependence of South Africa on Australia
• Trade profile of South Africa
• Trade profile of China
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.