Is South Africa’s Debt per Capita REALLY that bad?

With reference to this ‘MEME’ doing the rounds of Social Media and in the interests of responsible reporting wherein the concept of ‘Audi Alterem Partem’ needs an airing…

This is how Finance Minister Tito Mboweni put it in October 2019; “This year the national debt exceeded R3-trillion. It is expected to rise to R4.5-trillion in the next three years.”

The ‘MEME’ that you see here seems to have got a couple of numbers wrong and incorrectly placing our Debt per Capita at a number 50 TIMES more than the country with the most Debt per Capita in the world. In fact South Africa is sitting at position 80 in the 168 Country list you see below.

South Africa’s 2019 population was estimated at 58 558 270 people at mid 2019 according to UN data.

SA’s Expected debt by 2022: R4 500 000 000 000 which translates to R76 846.53 debt per man woman and child in South Africa

According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) there were 4.8 million taxpayers registered in the 2018 tax year. SO – if ONLY those taxpayers are ‘responsible’ for the repayment of SA’s National Debt then each of them needs to contribute a staggering R937 500.00 per taxpayer to wipe that debt out.

BUT – where exactly is South Africa in terms of Debt per Capita in comparison to other countries?

According to https://countryeconomy.com/ this is how Countries Rank on Debt per Capita in US Dollars (Bracketed Numbers are in Rands at R14.36 to $1.00):

1. Japan: $90,134.00 (R1,294,324.24)
2. Singapore: $73,807.00 (R1,059,868.52)
3. United States: $65,545.00 (R941,226.20)
4. Ireland: $49,602.00 (R712,284.72)
5. Belgium: $47,376.00 (R680,319.36)
6. Italy: $46,573.00 (R668,788.28)
7. Canada: $41,617.00 (R597,620.12)
8. France: $40,794.00 (R585,801.84)
9. Austria: $38,033.00 (R546,153.88)
10. Greece: $36,868.00 (R529,424.48)
11. United Kingdom: $36,414.00 (R522,905.04)
12. San Marino: $35,172.00 (R505,069.92)
13. Switzerland: $34,190.00 (R490,968.40)
14. Qatar: $33,437.00 (R480,155.32)
15. Norway: $32,554.00 (R467,475.44)
16. Finland: $29,624.00 (R425,400.64)
17. Spain: $29,525.00 (R423,979.00)
18. Germany: $29,433.00 (R422,657.88)
19. Cyprus: $28,661.00 (R411,571.96)
20. Portugal: $28,632.00 (R411,155.52)
21. Netherlands: $27,711.00 (R397,929.96)
22. Iceland: $27,350.00 (R392,746.00)
23. Israel: $24,508.00 (R351,934.88)
24. Luxembourg: $24,258.00 (R348,344.88)
25. Australia: $23,331.00 (R335,033.16)
26. Bahrain: $22,777.00 (R327,077.72)
27. Barbados: $22,463.00 (R322,568.68)
28. Sweden: $21,091.00 (R302,866.76)
29. Denmark: $20,683.00 (R297,007.88)
30. Bahamas: $20,618.00 (R296,074.48)
31. Slovenia: $18,288.00 (R262,615.68)
32. Antigua and Barbuda: $14,959.00 (R214,811.24)
33. Malta: $13,498.00 (R193,831.28)
34. New Zealand: $12,291.00 (R176,498.76)
35. South Korea: $11,902.00 (R170,912.72)
36. Lebanon: $11,680.00 (R167,724.80)
37. Saint Kitts and Nevis: $11,303.00 (R162,311.08)
38. Hungary: $11,276.00 (R161,923.36)
39. Croatia: $11,183.00 (R160,587.88)
40. Uruguay: $10,984.00 (R157,730.24)
41. Oman: $10,119.00 (R145,308.84)
42. Argentina: $10,029.00 (R144,016.44)
43. Slovakia: $9,604.00 (R137,913.44)
44. Seychelles: $9,308.00 (R133,662.88)
45. Taiwan: $8,764.00 (R125,851.04)
46. United Arab Emirates: $7,966.00 (R114,391.76)
47. Brazil: $7,834.00 (R112,496.24)
48. Mauritius: $7,567.00 (R108,662.12)
49. Poland: $7,485.00 (R107,484.60)
50. Czech Republic: $7,478.00 (R107,384.08)
51. Trinidad and Tobago: $7,281.00 (R104,555.16)
52. Maldives: $7,026.00 (R100,893.36)
53. Saint Lucia: $6,856.00 (R98,452.16)
54. Grenada: $6,747.00 (R96,886.92)
55. Latvia: $6,521.00 (R93,641.56)
56. Lithuania: $6,520.00 (R93,627.20)
57. Costa Rica: $6,444.00 (R92,535.84)
58. Montenegro: $6,363.00 (R91,372.68)
59. Panama: $6,176.00 (R88,687.36)
60. Malaysia: $6,150.00 (R88,314.00)
61. Kuwait: $6,098.00 (R87,567.28)
62. Dominica: $5,822.00 (R83,603.92)
63. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: $5,479.00 (R78,678.44)
64. Mexico: $5,251.00 (R75,404.36)
65. Jamaica: $5,095.00 (R73,164.20)
66. Nauru: $5,069.00 (R72,790.84)
67. China: $4,849.00 (R69,631.64)
68. Gabon: $4,828.00 (R69,330.08)
69. Belize: $4,783.00 (R68,683.88)
70. Cape Verde: $4,529.00 (R65,036.44)
71. Saudi Arabia: $4,428.00 (R63,586.08)
72. Romania: $4,314.00 (R61,949.04)
73. Dominican Republic: $4,207.00 (R60,412.52)
74. Suriname: $4,200.00 (R60,312.00)
75. Chile: $4,068.00 (R58,416.48)
76. Jordan: $4,009.00 (R57,569.24)
77. Serbia: $3,955.00 (R56,793.80)
78. Equatorial Guinea: $3,703.00 (R53,175.08)
79. Albania: $3,677.00 (R52,801.72)
80. South Africa: $3,602.00 (R51,724.72)
81. Bhutan: $3,503.00 (R50,303.08)
82. Colombia: $3,463.00 (R49,728.68)
83. Sri Lanka: $3,415.00 (R49,039.40)
84. Thailand: $3,094.00 (R44,429.84)
85. Iraq: $3,068.00 (R44,056.48)
86. Angola: $3,058.00 (R43,912.88)
87. Belarus: $3,010.00 (R43,223.60)
88. Ecuador: $2,915.00 (R41,859.40)
89. Fiji: $2,885.00 (R41,428.60)
90. Turkey: $2,836.00 (R40,724.96)
91. Namibia: $2,781.00 (R39,935.16)
92. Guyana: $2,649.00 (R38,039.64)
93. El Salvador: $2,631.00 (R37,781.16)
94. Libya: $2,581.00 (R37,063.16)
95. North Macedonia: $2,467.00 (R35,426.12)
96. Egypt: $2,383.00 (R34,219.88)
97. Tunisia: $2,284.00 (R32,798.24)
98. Samoa: $2,212.00 (R31,764.32)
99. Morocco: $2,185.00 (R31,376.60)
100. Armenia: $2,151.00 (R30,888.36)
101. Bulgaria: $2,107.00 (R30,256.52)
102. Kazakhstan: $1,974.00 (R28,346.64)
103. Bosnia and Herzegovina: $1,970.00 (R28,289.20)
104. Republic of the Congo: $1,953.00 (R28,045.08)
105. Estonia: $1,938.00 (R27,829.68)
106. Turkmenistan: $1,899.00 (R27,269.64)
107. Ukraine: $1,868.00 (R26,824.48)
108. Peru: $1,842.00 (R26,451.12)
109. Georgia: $1,824.00 (R26,192.64)
110. Iran: $1,742.00 (R25,015.12)
111. Sudan: $1,739.00 (R24,972.04)
112. Bolivia: $1,731.00 (R24,857.16)
113. Russia: $1,648.00 (R23,665.28)
114. Vanuatu: $1,644.00 (R23,607.84)
115. Algeria: $1,577.00 (R22,645.72)
116. Sao Tome and Principe: $1,493.00 (R21,439.48)
117. Swaziland: $1,485.00 (R21,324.60)
118. Laos: $1,370.00 (R19,673.20)
119. India: $1,367.00 (R19,630.12)
120. Vietnam: $1,357.00 (R19,486.52)
121. Djibouti: $1,336.00 (R19,184.96)
122. Ghana: $1,304.00 (R18,725.44)
123. Paraguay: $1,273.00 (R18,280.28)
124. Philippines: $1,207.00 (R17,332.52)
125. Indonesia: $1,164.00 (R16,715.04)
126. Venezuela: $1,131.00 (R16,241.16)
127. Guatemala: $1,122.00 (R16,111.92)
128. Pakistan: $1,122.00 (R16,111.92)
129. Tuvalu: $1,042.00 (R14,963.12)
130. Kenya: $1,029.00 (R14,776.44)
131. Zimbabwe: $1,019.00 (R14,632.84)
132. Botswana: $1,014.00 (R14,561.04)
133. Honduras: $997.00 (R14,316.92)
134. Marshall Islands: $982.00 (R14,101.52)
135. Zambia: $950.00 (R13,642.00)
136. Moldova: $946.00 (R13,584.56)
137. Ivory Coast: $913.00 (R13,110.68)
138. Senegal: $912.00 (R13,096.32)
139. Azerbaijan: $885.00 (R12,708.60)
140. Mauritania: $873.00 (R12,536.28)
141. Papua New Guinea: $799.00 (R11,473.64)
142. Syria: $803.00 (R11,531.08)
143. Brunei: $793.00 (R11,387.48)
144. Nicaragua: $755.00 (R10,841.80)
145. Federated States of Micronesia: $735.00 (R10,554.60)
146. Kyrgyzstan: $724.00 (R10,396.64)
147. Yemen: $691.00 (R9,922.76)
148. Eritrea: $690.00 (R9,908.40)
149. The Gambia: $617.00 (R8,860.12)
150. Lesotho: $573.00 (R8,228.28)
151. Bangladesh: $567.00 (R8,142.12)
152. Nigeria: $554.00 (R7,955.44)
153. Cameroon: $535.00 (R7,682.60)
154. Togo: $517.00 (R7,424.12)
155. Benin: $510.00 (R7,323.60)
156. Guinea-Bissau: $490.00 (R7,036.40)
157. Burma – Myanmar: $488.00 (R7,007.68)
158. Mozambique: $487.00 (R6,993.32)
159. Ethiopia: $449.00 (R6,447.64)
160. Cambodia: $431.00 (R6,189.16)
161. Tajikistan: $406.00 (R5,830.16)
162. Tanzania: $376.00 (R5,399.36)
163. Guinea: $372.00 (R5,341.92)
164. Kiribati: $354.00 (R5,083.44)
165. Mali: $336.00 (R4,824.96)
166. Sierra Leone: $336.00 (R4,824.96)
167. Chad: $334.00 (R4,796.24)
168. Uzbekistan: $316.00 (R4,537.76)
169. Rwanda: $314.00 (R4,509.04)
170. Nepal: $312.00 (R4,480.32)
171. Burkina Faso: $307.00 (R4,408.52)
172. Comoros: $298.00 (R4,279.28)
173. Haiti: $289.00 (R4,150.04)
174. Uganda: $272.00 (R3,905.92)
175. Liberia: $269.00 (R3,862.84)
176. Central African Republic: $244.00 (R3,503.84)
177. Malawi: $226.00 (R3,245.36)
178. Madagascar: $210.00 (R3,015.60)
179. Niger: $205.00 (R2,943.80)
180. Solomon Islands: $192.00 (R2,757.12)
181. South Sudan: $176.00 (R2,527.36)
182. Burundi: $134.00 (R1,924.24)
183. Democratic Republic of the Congo: $86.00 (R1,234.96)
184. Timor-Leste: $86.00 (R1,234.96)
185. Afghanistan: $36.00 (R516.96)
186. Hong Kong: $26.00 (R373.36)

On Monday 13 January I asked Magnus Heystek for Clarity on the amount and Decimal Point specifically in relation to this article:

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE

Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.

Latest posts by Alan Straton (see all)

• Why Digital Equity Is South Africa’s New Frontier for Women’s Empowerment – By Matebe Chisiza-Asukile and Natasha Mboyisa - 25 September 2026
• New Champions Rise at the 2026 Street Lines Skate Tournament - 23 September 2026
• When Manufacturers Have a ‘Beef’ Then Both Suffer - 23 September 2026
• How Much Are You Worth per Year to Your Bank? - 23 September 2026
• Better Business Processes. Stronger Workplace Skills. Smarter AI. Greater Business Productivity. - 23 September 2026