The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has predicted that the country will not see any economic growth this year.

The SARB’s 0% growth forecast followed a contraction in the gross domestic product (GDP) during the first quarter of 2016.

In a country with a growing population, this means that the GDP per capita is shrinking. GDP per capita is a useful measure for assessing the economic growth and productivity of a country.

This is, however, not where the bad news stops. When South Africa’s GDP is measured in a hard currency, like the US dollar, its performance looks atrocious.

The latest Trading Economics figures show that the South African economy has experienced a huge decline in US dollar terms over the last five years.

In fact, the last financial year saw the biggest single decline in South Africa’s GDP when measured in US dollars.

The graph below shows how the South African economy has shrunk in US dollar terms.

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