Economic Outlook

Internally, the 28 EU member states have adopted the framework of a single market with free movement of goods, services and capital. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic weight.

Despite great differences in per capita income among member states (from $13,000 to $82,000) and in national attitudes toward issues like inflation, debt, and foreign trade, the EU has achieved a high degree of coordination of monetary and fiscal policies. A common currency - the euro - circulates among 19 of the member states, under the auspices of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Eleven member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later). Since 2004, 13 states acceded to the EU. Of the 13, Slovenia (2007), Cyprus and Malta (2008), Slovakia (2009), Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014), and Lithuania (2015) have adopted the euro; 7 other member states - not including the UK nor Denmark, which have formal opt-outs - are required by EU treaties to adopt the common currency upon meeting fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$19.18 trillion (2015 est.)
$18.64 trillion (2014 est.)
$18.08 trillion (2013 est.)
Note: data are in 2015 US dollars

Country comparison to the world: 2

GDP (official exchange rate):
$16.27 trillion (2015 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

1.9% (2015 est.)
1.4% (2014 est.)
0.2% (2013 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 137

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$37,800 (2015 est.)
$36,900 (2014 est.)
$35,900 (2013 est.)
Note: data are in 2015 US dollars

Trade Stats - South Africa

Trade Stats - KwaZulu-Natal

Top 10 Imported Products - KwaZulu-Natal from Europe

Products	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
HST87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof	R5,583,807,599	R6,567,843,969	R6,853,500,726	R8,389,661,601	R9,736,761,509	R37,131,575,404
HST76: Aluminium and articles thereof	R4,466,480,774	R3,094,240,859	R4,185,398,276	R5,032,002,508	R6,281,280,463	R23,059,402,880
HST26: Ores, slag and ash	R3,696,742,284	R4,437,372,908	R4,207,830,121	R3,312,415,583	R3,382,805,854	R19,037,166,750
HST72: Iron and steel	R2,906,446,778	R3,044,090,116	R2,972,702,792	R3,595,231,701	R4,390,787,908	R16,909,259,295
HST48: Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard	R1,058,698,675	R1,095,660,465	R1,167,217,658	R1,365,855,223	R1,626,021,252	R6,313,453,273
HST84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof	R1,032,048,652	R928,902,447	R1,288,453,160	R1,397,272,659	R1,438,511,622	R6,085,188,540
HST28: Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes	R816,380,900	R830,710,358	R413,886,437	R302,750,715	R550,207,102	R2,913,935,512
HST85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles	R274,572,520	R365,362,657	R332,221,811	R323,280,984	R241,776,370	R1,537,214,342
HST27: Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes	R322,817,091	R351,943,798	R104,864,309	R 169,338,386	R 189,597,481	R 1,138,561,065
HST29: Organic chemicals	R176,546,820	R203,580,782	R264,721,037	R205,953,636	R129,983,667	R980,785,942

Top 10 Imported Products - South Africa from Europe

Products	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
H84: Nuclear reactors, machinery and mechanical appliances	R50,356,167,945	R52,970,875,486	R60,527,562,355	R59,021,568,988	R57,996,830,006	R280,873,004,780
H87: Vehicles and accessories	R29,163,876,169	R32,349,236,838	R41,864,578,669	R41,001,069,040	R44,470,771,137	R188,849,531,853
H98: Original equipment components	R23,249,505,523	R24,545,545,152	R28,423,883,665	R35,735,470,715	R46,215,683,732	R158,170,088,787
H85: Electrical machinery and equipment	R22,171,492,615	R20,382,616,730	R28,219,238,408	R27,463,498,856	R29,538,036,251	R127,774,882,860
H30: Pharmaceutical products	R10,710,856,957	R12,724,782,348	R13,066,311,216	R14,480,733,710	R15,670,712,256	R66,653,396,487
H27: Mineral fuels and mineral oils	R14,459,530,072	R10,085,577,935	R11,851,557,865	R11,210,066,011	R11,319,396,598	R58,926,128,481
H90: Photographic, cinematographic, and medical instruments	R8,782,028,308	R8,999,361,932	R11,134,312,665	R11,122,622,033	R12,135,846,689	R 52,174,171,627
H39: Plastics and articles thereof	R6,654,822,310	R7,525,689,267	R9,451,930,975	R10,908,655,302	R12,107,334,902	R46,648,432,756
H38: Miscellaneous chemical products	R5,562,693,358	R6,185,690,456	R7,323,983,550	R8,564,692,093	R8,717,133,234	R36,354,192,691
H48: Paper and paperboard	R4,278,687,381	R4,834,647,257	R5,887,984,645	R6,444,381,653	R6,840,541,078	R28,286,242,014

Top 10 Exported Products - KwaZulu-Natal to Europe

Products	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
HST84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof	R3,174,167,165	R3,173,838,521	R3,840,340,831	R3,740,298,835	R4,429,143,783	R18,357,789,135
HST15: Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes	R2,179,866,140	R2,568,964,428	R2,283,327,263	R2,263,837,571	R1,329,608,131	R10,625,603,533
HST87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof	R1,579,206,202	R1,762,515,686	R2,018,650,586	R831,947,446	R1,364,370,979	R7,556,690,899
HST38: Miscellaneous chemical products	R1,119,160,427	R1,230,965,280	R1,432,878,279	R1,561,267,734	R1,699,355,350	R7,043,627,070
HST48: Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or of paperboard	R710,210,899	R1,031,038,356	R1,386,271,290	R1,602,830,129	R2,041,473,792	R6,771,824,466
HST39: Plastics and articles thereof	R795,158,828	R961,540,447	R1,417,673,274	R1,546,899,687	R1,981,563,322	R6,702,835,558
HST29: Organic chemicals	R850,291,421	R804,007,304	R940,889,181	R879,726,081	R980,706,264	R4,455,620,251
HST10: Cereals	R332,018,691	R389,907,609	R960,156,777	R1,086,152,783	R1,389,244,631	R4,157,480,491
HST85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles	R686,417,042	R757,002,434	R727,552,349	R776,150,993	R924,488,498	R3,871,611,316
HST02: Meat and edible meat offal	R339,368,482	R541,396,545	R542,833,199	R1,030,051,745	R1,214,251,349	R3,667,901,320

Top 10 Exported Products - South Africa to Europe

Products	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total
H71: Pearls and precious or semi-precious stones	R31,358,591,034	R29,148,172,563	R32,092,300,259	R34,401,353,780	R41,326,364,569	R168,326,782,205
H87: Vehicles and accessories	R16,558,485,836	R17,695,736,897	R18,756,492,989	R29,520,121,509	R48,309,481,638	R130,840,318,869
H26: Ores, slag and ash	R20,638,332,472	R19,415,980,545	R22,433,801,836	R20,835,223,833	R19,467,262,608	R102,790,601,294
H84: Nuclear reactors, machinery and mechanical appliances	R19,475,486,199	R16,421,994,453	R18,398,851,525	R19,036,815,145	R18,891,978,878	R92,225,126,200
H72: Iron and steel	R14,185,878,332	R13,366,235,772	R13,281,033,892	R16,801,197,669	R14,466,656,680	R72,101,002,345
H08: Fruit and nuts	R9,316,948,933	R10,346,771,349	R14,046,249,031	R15,879,974,719	R18,852,660,821	R68,442,604,853
H27: Mineral fuels and mineral oils	R11,428,447,726	R10,362,659,421	R12,130,613,316	R16,157,623,882	R9,657,127,427	R59,736,471,772
H22: Beverages, spirits and vinegar	R4,118,090,857	R4,298,418,381	R6,176,698,872	R5,852,242,515	R5,596,169,380	R26,041,620,005
H76: Aluminium and articles thereof	R4,545,850,006	R3,180,723,791	R4,291,992,982	R5,152,564,198	R6,092,519,323	R23,263,650,300
H29: Organic chemical compounds	R2,161,255,582	R2,471,804,273	R2,963,789,189	R3,243,964,724	R2,459,969,001	R13,300,782,769

Other Projects

The government projects are the responsibility of each respective government department, therefore TIKZN is not responsible for the updating of this information. For further assistance, kindly contact the department responsible directly. Follow this link for available projects:

http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za