Inflation rate - consumer price index: 9% (1996 est.)

Labor force: total: 14.2 million economically active (1996) by occupation: services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%, other 6%

Unemployment rate: 34% (1996 est.); note - an additional 11% of the workforce is underemployed

Budget: revenues : $30.5 billion expenditures: $38 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion (FY94/95 est.)

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - capacity: 34.57 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 158.78 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 3,305 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products