TGCLI Edition 1 is now available.Download the report
The Global Credit Literacy Index
Back to Rankings

Country profile · Edition 1

🇿🇦South Africa

Africa

Score

61.2

Rank

28 of 46

Overview

South Africa ranks 28th of 46 economies, with a score of 61.2 out of 100. It is 2nd of 5 ranked economies in Africa.

Strongest: Consumer protection, Government support, Financial education and Public awareness (100). Weakest: Credit access (13); Credit literacy (42).

Dimension scores

Credit literacyCredit accessFinancial inclusionDigital bankingInnovationConsumer protectionGovernment supportFinancial educationYouth educationPublic awareness0255075100
Credit literacy42.0
Credit access13.2
Financial inclusion55.9
Digital banking67.2
Innovation66.7
Consumer protection100.0
Government support100.0
Financial education100.0
Youth education50.0
Public awareness100.0

Dimensions with no score are left out of the overall score, never counted as zero.

Not yet measured: Reporting transparency, Alternative infrastructure.

Survey indicators

42%42% of adults answered at least 3 of 4 financial concepts correctly (S&P Global FinLit, 2014)
13.2%13% of adults borrowed from a formal institution or via mobile money in the past year (Findex, 2024)
81.1%81% of adults have an account (Findex, 2024)
30.8%31% could raise emergency funds within 30 days without great difficulty (Findex, 2024)
67.2%67% of adults made or received a digital payment (Findex, 2024)

Youth education policy: nationwide

Financial education is part of the mandatory school curriculum nationwide. There is no standalone course or graduation requirement. Young people are mentioned in the national strategy but not as a priority, or the strategy has expired.

Policy dimensions record whether a policy exists, not how well it works.