Bank return on assets in South Africa
South Africa: Bank return on assets was 1.3% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Bank return on assets in South Africa, 2000–2021
Source: Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD). Measured in %, before tax.
Analysis
In 2021, bank return on assets in South Africa stood at 1.3%.
That represents a change of up 178.2% on the previous year and down 12.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bank return on assets in South Africa peaked at 2.2% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2020.
South Africa ranks 81st of 168 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.
Bank return on assets in South Africa, year by year
| Year | %, before tax | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.0% | — |
| 2001 | 0.9% | -53.6% |
| 2005 | 1.9% | +112.4% |
| 2006 | 2.2% | +13.7% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -7.5% |
| 2008 | 1.5% | -27.1% |
| 2009 | 1.1% | -24.7% |
| 2010 | 1.3% | +14.9% |
| 2011 | 1.5% | +15.2% |
| 2012 | 1.5% | +4.9% |
| 2013 | 1.2% | -22.5% |
| 2014 | 1.4% | +16.8% |
| 2015 | 1.5% | +7.2% |
| 2016 | 1.7% | +10.8% |
| 2017 | 1.7% | +4.3% |
| 2018 | 1.5% | -13.8% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | -69.4% |
| 2021 | 1.3% | +178.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.7% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 7 |
| 2010s | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More financial sector data for South Africa
- Reserves excluding gold, foreign exchange (SDR), annual growth rate 1.24 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserves excluding gold, foreign exchange (SDR), per unit of GDP 0.0877 SDR per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserves excluding gold, foreign exchange (SDR), per capita 578.61 SDR per person (2025)
- Reserves excluding gold (SDR), annual growth rate 1.27 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserves excluding gold (SDR), per capita 658.6 SDR per person (2025)
- Total reserves (gold at market value) (SDR), annual growth rate 10.64 % change on previous year (2025)
- Total reserves (gold at market value) (SDR), per capita 857.36 SDR per person (2025)
- Total reserves (gold at national valuation) (SDR), annual growth rate 10.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Total reserves (gold at national valuation) (SDR), per capita 855.88 SDR per person (2025)
- Total reserves in months of imports, annual growth rate 9.76 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bank return on assets in South Africa?
- Bank return on assets in South Africa was 1.3% in 2021, according to Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD).
- What is the highest bank return on assets recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 2.2% in 2006.
- What is the lowest bank return on assets recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2020.
- How does South Africa rank for bank return on assets?
- South Africa ranks 81st out of 168 countries with data for 2021.
- Is bank return on assets rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD), published as part of Bank return on assets (%, before tax). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Raw data are from Bankscope. Data10270[t] / ((data2025[t] + data2025[t-1])/2). Numerator and denominator are first aggregated on the country level before division. Note that banks used in the calculation might differ between indicators. Calculated from underlying bank-by-bank unconsolidated data from Bankscope.