National Budget of South Africa
Budget of the South African Government
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The National Budget of South Africa is the annual financial plan presented by the Minister of Finance to Parliament. It outlines how the government expects to raise revenue and how that money will be allocated across departments and programs for the coming financial year. The budget is built on national priorities set through medium term planning.[2] Revenue comes mainly from taxes, including personal income tax, corporate income tax, and value added tax. Spending areas include education, health, social development, and economic development. The National Treasury prepares the budget and monitors its implementation throughout the year.
| Budget Review 2026 (RP05/2026) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presented | 25 February 2026 |
| Passed | 24 March 2026 |
| Parliament | 28th South African Parliament |
| Finance minister | Enoch Godongwana |
| Total revenue |  R 2.35 trillion |
| Total expenditures | R 2.67 trillion |
| Program spending | R 2.23 trillion |
| Debt payment | R 432 billion |
| Deficit | R 324 billion |
| Debt | 78.9% of GDP |
| GDP | R 7.60 trillion (2025)[1] |
| Website | www |
National Budget
Budget Revenue
2026–27 Budget revenue overview
- (36.0%) Personal income tax: R 844.8 bn
- (22.2%) VAT: R 521.4 bn
- (15.5%) Corporate income tax: R 364.3 bn
- (3.79%) Trade & Tariffs: R 89 bn
- (13.1%) Other taxes: R 307.5 bn
- (9.31%) Non-tax revenue: R 218.4 bn
| Fiscal Year | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal income tax | 482.1 | 505.8 | 552.9 | 546.8 | 516.0 | 587.9 | 640.3 | 738.7 | 792.5 | 844.8 |
| VAT | 312.8 | 348.1 | 360.5 | 360.6 | 370.2 | 439.7 | 471.5 | 476.7 | 482.2 | 521.4 |
| Corporate income tax | 218.7 | 231.2 | 229.6 | 230.2 | 213.1 | 269.9 | 336.1 | 302.7 | 338.8 | 364.3 |
| Trade & Tariffs | 53.6 | 54.1 | 61.3 | 60.6 | 54.0 | 62.5 | 76.6 | 78.7 | 84.2 | 89.0 |
| Other taxes | 198.3 | 205.8 | 217.9 | 227.2 | 211.8 | 238.4 | 263.0 | 266.2 | 287.9 | 307.5 |
| Non-tax revenue | 148.6 | 145.7 | 161.6 | 158.5 | 155.3 | 172.2 | 171.4 | 173.6 | 215.2 | 218.4 |
| Total | 1414.1 | 1490.7 | 1583.8 | 1583.9 | 1520.4 | 1770.6 | 1958.9 | 2036.6 | 2200.8 | 2345.4 |
Expenditure Overview
| Fiscal Year | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Development | Economic infrastructure and regulation | 89.5 | 97.9 | 101.3 | 105.3 | 93.1 | 117.5 | 124.9 | 146.1 | 175.5 | 164.1 |
| Industrialisation and trade | 28.9 | 32.9 | 37.5 | 39.0 | 36.2 | 39.2 | 40.5 | 39.1 | 40.8 | 45.8 | |
| Employment and labour | 75.9 | 23.3 | 23.2 | 22.4 | 33.4 | 27.5 | 24.6 | 22.2 | 23.7 | 13.2 | |
| Agriculture and rural development | 26.5 | 30.2 | 30.7 | 28.3 | 27.4 | 24.8 | 27.8 | 27.7 | 29.4 | 39.5 | |
| Innovation, science and technology | 20.6 | 15.8 | 16.5 | 16.4 | 17.4 | 18.1 | 19.8 | 20.7 | 20.2 | 21.3 | |
| Total | 241.6 | 200.1 | 209.2 | 211.5 | 207.5 | 227.1 | 237.6 | 255.4 | 289.8 | 283.9 | |
| Defence & Security | Police services | 93.8 | 99.1 | 104.2 | 106.1 | 104.6 | 110.2 | 112.1 | 125.0 | 133.4 | 140.1 |
| Defence and state security | 54.0 | 48.4 | 50.0 | 51.4 | 48.5 | 50.8 | 52.7 | 54.4 | 59.7 | 59.3 | |
| Law courts and prisons | 43.8 | 45.4 | 48.4 | 49.6 | 46.7 | 50.0 | 51.4 | 53.5 | 57.2 | 60.9 | |
| Home affairs | 7.2 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 9.9 | 8.9 | 9.7 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 12.9 | 14.3 | |
| Total | 198.7 | 200.8 | 211.0 | 217.0 | 208.6 | 220.7 | 227.3 | 244.0 | 263.2 | 274.6 | |
| Governance | Public administration and fiscal affairs | 43.9 | 40.4 | 41.6 | 47.3 | 46.1 | 46.1 | 48.1 | 49.1 | 53.7 | 55.4 |
| Executive and legislative organs | 14.3 | 16.0 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 14.5 | 14.8 | 16.8 | 17.0 | 17.8 | 19.8 | |
| External affairs | 12.4 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 9.2 | |
| Total | 70.7 | 64.0 | 65.3 | 70.0 | 68.4 | 69.2 | 73.6 | 74.7 | 80.7 | 84.4 | |
| Education & Culture | Basic education | 216.7 | 230.4 | 250.4 | 248.6 | 255.1 | 282.8 | 293.7 | 303.0 | 329.2 | 344.7 |
| University transfers | 31.6 | 34.9 | 37.0 | 44.8 | 45.6 | 48.7 | 45.1 | 47.7 | 48.4 | 50.5 | |
| NSFAS | 15.3 | 22.8 | 33.3 | 37.1 | 37.3 | 46.1 | 50.1 | 53.6 | 55.4 | 54.3 | |
| Skills development levy institutions | 21.1 | 19.3 | 21.7 | 21.0 | 21.3 | 21.7 | 24.3 | 28.6 | 27.9 | 30.1 | |
| Education administration | 15.8 | 16.8 | 17.6 | 17.8 | 19.6 | 18.0 | 18.5 | 19.4 | 21.6 | 22.7 | |
| Technical & Vocational education and training | 7.4 | 10.7 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 13.0 | 12.6 | 13.3 | 13.6 | 14.2 | 15.0 | |
| Arts, Sports, Recreation and Culture | 10.4 | 10.7 | 11.3 | 11.7 | 11.0 | 11.8 | 12.0 | 12.1 | 12.5 | 12.9 | |
| Total | 320.5 | 351.1 | 386.4 | 396.4 | 402.9 | 441.5 | 457.1 | 480.6 | 505.6 | 527.2 | |
| Health | District health services | 83.6 | 90.2 | 98.2 | 102.0 | 105.5 | 115.7 | 113.1 | 120.0 | 130.9 | 137.8 |
| Central hospital services | 35.9 | 38.6 | 43.1 | 44.7 | 51.4 | 49.4 | 48.6 | 52.8 | 57.8 | 59.7 | |
| Provincial hospital services | 32.3 | 34.3 | 36.7 | 37.6 | 44.1 | 42.4 | 40.2 | 47.5 | 48.5 | 50.6 | |
| Other health services | 25.8 | 33.8 | 35.6 | 35.4 | 38.1 | 40.4 | 46.1 | 40.2 | 47.1 | 50.5 | |
| Facilities management and maintenance | 9.9 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 11.1 | 11.3 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 11.8 | |
| Total | 187.5 | 205.4 | 222.6 | 229.7 | 248.8 | 259.0 | 259.2 | 271.9 | 296.1 | 310.4 | |
| Local Development & Infrastructure | Municipal equitable share | 72.9 | 62.7 | 69.0 | 74.7 | 78.0 | 87.3 | 96.5 | 101.2 | 106.1 | 110.1 |
| Human settlements, water and electrification programmes | 52.8 | 56.5 | 56.4 | 55.7 | 52.9 | 58.7 | 61.7 | 59.0 | 58.0 | 53.6 | |
| Public transport | 44.1 | 38.6 | 43.6 | 44.7 | 45.0 | 47.4 | 53.2 | 57.2 | 63.8 | 70.9 | |
| Other human settlements and Municipal infrastructure | 26.0 | 38.5 | 39.6 | 37.2 | 42.9 | 42.9 | 48.2 | 47.7 | 52.6 | 59.6 | |
| Total | 195.8 | 196.3 | 208.5 | 212.3 | 218.8 | 236.3 | 259.7 | 265.3 | 280.4 | 294.3 | |
| Social Development | Social security funds | 66.0 | 71.3 | 88.0 | 105.9 | 84.2 | 92.4 | 89.0 | 99.5 | 107.6 | |
| Old-age grant | 64.5 | 70.5 | 77.0 | 83.1 | 86.5 | 92.1 | 99.1 | 107.0 | 117.4 | 121.8 | |
| Child-support grant | 56.3 | 60.6 | 65.0 | 69.8 | 73.3 | 77.2 | 81.9 | 85.8 | 90.4 | 89.0 | |
| Provincial social development | 19.2 | 20.6 | 22.3 | 23.3 | 23.6 | 22.0 | 21.4 | 22.0 | 23.3 | 24.3 | |
| Disability grant | 21.2 | 22.1 | 23.1 | 24.4 | 23.6 | 24.7 | 26.8 | 29.2 | 30.2 | 31.9 | |
| Other grants | 10.7 | 9.7 | 10.1 | 10.6 | 12.2 | 54.3 | 46.0 | 44.2 | 46.7 | 58.6 | |
| Policy oversight and grant administration | 8.3 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 9.9 | 10.9 | 10.1 | 12.6 | 13.4 | |
| Total | 180.0 | 259.4 | 278.4 | 309.2 | 335.3 | 364.4 | 378.5 | 387.3 | 420.1 | 446.6 | |
| Debt-service costs | 162.4 | 180.1 | 202.2 | 229.3 | 269.7 | 301.8 | 340.5 | 382.2 | 426.3 | 432.4 | |
| Contingency reserve | 6.0 | 8.0 | 13.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | |
Provincial Budgets
| Sector | Province | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | Free State | Gauteng | Kwazulu-Natal | Limpopo | Mpumalanga | North West | Northern Cape | Western Cape | |
| Agriculture | 2,577,809 | 883,720 | 647,304 | 2,757,443 | 1,909,803 | 1,644,634 | 1,218,610 | 793,016 | 1,021,484 |
| Economic Development, Tourism and the Environment | 1,815,756 | 705,641 | 2,223,973 | 3,606,998 | 2,079,629 | 1,324,261 | 1,013,489 | 340,394 | 1,184,949 |
| Education | 44,636,479 | 18,889,391 | 68,000,575 | 66,690,206 | 42,529,435 | 28,732,641 | 22,894,639 | 8,886,543 | 33,259,103 |
| Health | 31,652,682 | 14,187,504 | 67,042,497 | 56,211,801 | 26,073,702 | 19,750,974 | 17,040,332 | 6,868,747 | 32,007,601 |
| Local Government and Housing | 3,535,562 | 1,726,680 | 6,280,116 | 5,481,030 | 2,573,445 | 2,360,127 | 2,529,739 | 1,068,064 | 10,267,651 |
| Office of the Premier | 1,519,072 | 633,571 | 1,505,486 | 817,875 | 554,810 | 493,827 | 519,498 | 302,262 | 2,012,784 |
| Provincial Legislature | 750,510 | 317,306 | 1,200,122 | 850,796 | 671,660 | 549,137 | 522,583 | 222,825 | 269,189 |
| Provincial Treasury | 519,185 | 384,032 | 787,853 | 710,190 | 512,897 | 647,494 | 695,181 | 373,638 | 359,755 |
| Public Works, Roads and Transport | 8,797,777 | 6,088,777 | 17,288,201 | 16,140,272 | 8,651,421 | 8,021,174 | 6,653,848 | 2,723,605 | 3,976,946 |
| Social Development | 3,115,648 | 1,373,855 | 5,458,504 | 3,613,297 | 2,294,866 | 1,877,527 | 1,876,413 | 1,002,757 | 2,725,610 |
| Sport, Arts and Culture | 1,079,768 | 666,075 | 1,013,402 | 1,598,141 | 877,492 | 812,298 | 776,063 | 457,814 | 958,692 |
| Total | 100,000,249 | 45,856,552 | 171,448,033 | 158,478,049 | 88,729,158 | 66,214,094 | 55,740,395 | 23,039,665 | 88,043,764 |