Crime Costs South Africa 10% of GDP Each Year, World Bank Says
Trucks pass a police check point on the N4 national highway near Komatipoort, South Africa.
Photographer: Leon Sadiki/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Rampant crime in South Africa is costing the country at least 10% of its gross domestic product annually and exacerbating already stark income inequality, a World Bank study found.
One in five households are affected by crime each year, while companies are contending with high security costs, the lender’s researchers wrote in the Safety First: The Economic Cost of Crime in South Africa report. Informal businesses, which are seen as key to reviving the moribund economy and creating jobs, are particularly exposed to the crime scourge and most can’t afford to take preventative action, they said.