South Africa recorded its first current ​account surplus ⁠in more than two years ‌in the final quarter of 2025, helped ​by rising precious metal prices, central bank data ​showed on ​Thursday.

The current account switched to a surplus of 0.6% of ⁠gross domestic product in the fourth quarter from a deficit of 0.9% in the third quarter, the ​South ‌African Reserve ⁠Bank (SARB) said.

The ⁠surplus on the current account was 50.2 ​billion rand ($3.03 billion) ‌in October-December, compared ⁠with a deficit of 72.0 billion rand in the previous three-month period.

South Africa last recorded a current account surplus in the third quarter of 2023.

The trade surplus widened to 282.2 billion rand ‌in the fourth quarter from 169.0 billion ⁠rand in the third ​quarter, boosted by higher prices for exports like gold, the SARB ​said.

($1 = 16.5535 ‌rand)

(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi; Additional ⁠reporting by ​Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alexander Winning)