Murray Swart|Published
The Western Cape’s economy grew faster than any other province last year, but Gauteng is still more than twice its size.
Statistics South Africa’s latest provincial GDP figures show the Western Cape recorded economic growth of 1.4% in 2025, compared with 1.1% in Gauteng and 0.9% nationally.
But when it comes to the size of the economy, the gap remains substantial. Gauteng accounted for 32.5% of South Africa’s nominal GDP last year, more than double the Western Cape’s 14.2%.
Stats SA says its estimates for 2023 to 2025 are preliminary and may still be revised.
Gauteng remains SA’s biggest economy
Despite recording slower growth, Gauteng remained South Africa’s largest provincial economy in 2025.
It contributed 32.5% of national nominal GDP, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 15.5% and the Western Cape at 14.2%.
The Western Cape’s share slipped from 14.3% in 2024, while Gauteng’s declined slightly from 32.6%.
The Western Cape may have topped the growth rankings, but Gauteng’s economy remains considerably larger.
Limpopo recorded the third-highest growth rate at 1%.
Finance and property services lead Western Cape economy
Finance, real estate and business services made up the largest part of the Western Cape economy in 2025, accounting for 28% of provincial output.
Manufacturing contributed 14%, trade 13% and personal services 10%.
The province also made a significant contribution to several industries nationally. It accounted for 23% of South Africa’s agricultural value added and 23% of construction value added.
Its contribution to national finance, real estate and business services was 18%, while it accounted for 18% of transport and communication and 17% of manufacturing.
These figures show the make-up of the provincial economy, rather than which industries were responsible for its growth last year.
Cape Town accounts for most of provincial economy
Cape Town accounts for a substantial share of the Western Cape economy, although the latest GDP report does not provide a separate growth figure for the metro.
The Western Cape Government’s Provincial Economic Review and Outlook 2025 estimates that the Cape Metro contributed 72.3% of provincial GDP in 2024. Its economy grew by 0.4% that year, with finance making the largest contribution to growth.
Construction, trade and transport made negative contributions to the metro’s growth in 2024.
The report does not show how much of the province’s 1.4% growth in 2025 came from Cape Town.
The City also publishes quarterly Economic Performance Indicators for Cape Town, which track local economic trends across different sectors.
There has also been significant property-development activity in the central city. The Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s State of Cape Town Central City Report 2025 put the value of its property-development pipeline at more than R12.8bn across 29 developments during 2025/26.
That was 41% higher than the R9bn recorded in 2024.
The pipeline included eight completed projects worth more than R1.9bn, 14 developments under construction valued at more than R5.4bn and five in the planning phase worth R5.4bn. Two proposed projects had values yet to be confirmed.
The figures cover the CCID’s 1.74km² central-city area and include projects at different stages. They do not represent completed investment across Cape Town.
Employment figures tell a different story
The latest employment figures present a mixed picture for the province.
Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2026 recorded a drop of 48,000 employed people in the Western Cape compared with the previous quarter. It was the largest quarterly employment decline among the provinces.
The number of employed people fell from approximately 2.88 million to 2.84 million, a decrease of 1.7%.
However, the year-on-year figures were more positive, with employment up by 91,000, or 3.3%, compared with the second quarter of 2025.
The Western Cape Government reported that the province’s official unemployment rate was 19.5% in the second quarter, down slightly from 19.6% in the first quarter.
The figures show that while the provincial economy grew faster than anywhere else in the country last year, the employment picture remains more complicated.
South Africa’s economy grew by 0.9% in 2025, with all nine provinces recording growth. The Western Cape led the provincial rankings, while Gauteng remained the country’s biggest economic contributor.
Murray Swart
capetimes.co.za
