What changed
Official monthly totals, newest first · South African Reserve Bank (SARB), with National Treasury · published once a month, with each new Quarterly BulletinSouth Africa government debt
South African Reserve Bank (SARB), with National Treasury · official as of Jul 31, 2026 · projected at the past 12 months' pace between monthly figuresSouth Africa national government gross loan debt
South African Reserve Bank, Quarterly Bulletin, National government debt at face value, total gross loan debt (KB406 / 4114M), R million · official, Jul 31, 2026 · fixedPer person
Statistics South Africa, Mid-year population estimates 2025 (P0302), total population at 30 June 2025 · Jun 30, 2025History
Fixed official figures · South African Reserve Bank (SARB), with National Treasury · these do not tickDetails
Full official tablesSouth Africa national government gross loan debt: R6,203,942,000,000
Official, month-end Jul 31, 2026 · South African Reserve Bank, Quarterly Bulletin, National government debt at face value, total gross loan debt (KB406 / 4114M), R million (Quarterly Bulletin statistical table "7. Public finance", page "National government debt, at face value", column Total gross loan debt)
| Part | Amount |
|---|---|
| Domestic | |
| Domestic debt | R5,635,368,000,000 |
| External | |
| Foreign debt | R568,574,000,000 |
| Total | R6,203,942,000,000 |
National government gross loan debt (domestic and foreign) at face value, in rand. Excludes provincial and local governments, state-owned companies and guaranteed debt.
By month (official)
| Month-end | Gross loan debt | Combined | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2026 | R6,203,942,000,000 | R6,203,942,000,000 | +R47.98B |
| Jun 30, 2026 | R6,155,965,000,000 | R6,155,965,000,000 | +R42.05B |
| May 31, 2026 | R6,113,911,000,000 | R6,113,911,000,000 | +R11.86B |
| Apr 30, 2026 | R6,102,050,000,000 | R6,102,050,000,000 | −R2.40B |
| Mar 31, 2026 | R6,104,450,000,000 | R6,104,450,000,000 | +R61.47B |
| Feb 28, 2026 | R6,042,983,000,000 | R6,042,983,000,000 | +R24.92B |
| Dec 31, 2025 | R6,018,060,000,000 | R6,018,060,000,000 | +R117.95B |
| Jul 31, 2025 | R5,900,114,000,000 | R5,900,114,000,000 | — |
How it works
Official monthly figures · projection labelled · sources linkedThe live number = latest official total + (the official change per second over the past 12 months × seconds since that total). South Africa publishes its debt once a month, not daily, so this is a projection between monthly figures, not an official figure.
projected = 6,203,942,000,000 + 9,634.3227 × (seconds since Jul 31, 2026 11:59:59 PM CT)
The rate is the official change from Jul 31, 2025 to Jul 31, 2026: R6,203,942,000,000 − R5,900,114,000,000 = R303,828,000,000 over 365 days = R9,634.32 per second. We use the latest twelve months rather than the last month because changes between single reporting dates swing with the issuance calendar and short-term borrowing. The actual path is lumpy (bonds are sold in batches and repaid on schedules), so the projection will drift; when new monthly figures come out, the clock re-bases to the new official figures.
How often it's published. Monthly data, published quarterly. The Reserve Bank's Quarterly Bulletin (March, June, September, December) adds the months since the previous one. The Reserve Bank publishes the Quarterly Bulletin in March, June, September and December; each adds the months since the last one. This page re-bases to it automatically on the next daily build after it appears.
Per person divides by Stats SA's estimate of 63,100,945 people on Jun 30, 2025. It is not projected forward, so the live per-person figure rises only with the debt.
Note. Why the Reserve Bank: it publishes the Treasury's debt statistics monthly in a machine-readable table, with domestic and foreign parts. The fetcher checks that domestic plus foreign equals the total gross loan debt in every row it uses.
Note. Gross: the Treasury and the Bank also publish net loan debt (after cash balances); the gross figure is used here.
Note. Face value: the table's market-value version is lower or higher and is not used.
Note. Currency: South African rand. The World Debt Clock converts it to US dollars at the ECB's daily reference rate for ZAR.
Note. Figures from source tables may not add exactly because of rounding in the source.
Sources: South African Reserve Bank, Quarterly Bulletin, National government debt at face value, total gross loan debt (KB406 / 4114M), R million · Statistics South Africa, Mid-year population estimates 2025 (P0302), total population at 30 June 2025 · National Treasury, Budget documents · Statistics South Africa
Page built Oct 30, 2026 5:02 PM CT from the official figures above.