South Africa–European Union relations

European Union	South Africa

TheEuropean Union (EU) has strong cultural and historical links toSouth Africa (particularly through immigration from theNetherlands,Ireland,Germany,France, andGreece) and the EU is South Africa's biggest investor.^[1]

	European Union	South Africa
Population	447,706,209	58,775,022
Area	4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi)	1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq mi)
Population Density	117.2/km2 (303.5/sq mi)	42.4/km2 (109.8/sq mi)
Capital	Brussels	Pretoria
Government	Supranational andintergovernmental union	Unitarydominant-partyparliamentaryconstitutional republic
Current leader	Council PresidentAntónio Costa Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen	PresidentCyril Ramaphosa Deputy PresidentPaul Mashatile
Official Languages	24 official languages, of which 3 considered "procedural" (English,French andGerman)[2]	11 official languages,English,Afrikaans,Sepedi,Sesotho,Setswana,siSwati,Tshivenda,Xitsonga,isiNdebele,isiXhosa,isiZulu
Main Religions	71.6%Christian 45.3%Roman Catholic 11.1%Protestant 9.6%Eastern Orthodox 5.6%other Christian 24%No religion 1.8%Muslim 2.6%other faiths[3]	85.3%Christian 7.8%traditional faiths 3.1%no religion 1.6%Muslim 1.1%Hinduism 1.1% other
Ethnic Groups	Germans (ca. 80 million), French (ca. 67 million), Italians (ca. 60 million), Spanish (ca. 47 million), Poles (ca. 46 million), Romanians (ca. 16 million), Dutch (ca. 13 million), Greeks (ca. 11 million), Portuguese (ca. 11 million),	80.7%Black African, 8.8%Coloured, 7.9%White, 2.6%Asian
GDP (nominal)	$16.477 trillion, $31,801 per capita	$369.854 billion, $6,193 per capita

Since the end of South Africa'sapartheid, EU South African relations have flourished and they began a "Strategic Partnership" in 2007. In 1999 the two sides signed aTrade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) which entered into force in 2004, with some provisions being applied from 2000. The TDCA covered a wide range of issues from political cooperation, development and the establishment of afree trade area (FTA).^[1] The liberalisation schedules were completed by 2012.^[4] Since the signing of the Agreement, trade in goods between the two partners has increased by more than 120%, and foreign direct investment has grown five-fold.^[4] In March 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would invest €4.7 billion ($5 billion) in aid and development projects in South Africa, after the United States ended most of its USAID programs.^[5]

South Africa is the EU's largest trading partner inSouthern Africa and has a FTA with the EU. South Africa's main exports to the EU are fuels and mining products (27%), machinery and transport equipment (18%) and other semi-manufactured goods (16%). However they are growing and becoming more diverse. European exports to South Africa are primarily machinery & transport equipment (50%), chemicals (15%) and other semi-machinery (10%).^[4]

• Foreign relations of the European Union
• Foreign relations of South Africa
• African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
• General Representation of the Government of Flanders in Pretoria

• EU delegation to South Africa
• South Africa - European Commission Aid and Development
• Outlook on Europe: South Africa’s Relations with the European Union Since the End of Apartheid

• South Africa–European Union relations
• Foreign relations of South Africa
• Third-country relations of the European Union

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata