{"id":279221,"date":"2025-11-13T11:48:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=279221"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:52:20","slug":"south-africans-see-their-countrys-influence-weakening-ahead-of-g20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/11\/13\/south-africans-see-their-countrys-influence-weakening-ahead-of-g20\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans See Their Country\u2019s Influence Weakening Ahead of G20"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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National flags adorn the hallway of the venue for the G20 First Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Feb. 21, 2025, in Johannesburg. (Sharon Seretlo\/Gallo Images via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How we did this<\/summary>\n

This Pew Research Center report examines South Africans\u2019 views of their country\u2019s influence in the world, how they see their political parties and leaders, and their attitudes toward other countries and international organizations. It also explores how adults in Kenya and Nigeria, the two other African nations in our spring survey, view South Africa and each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African data is from a survey of 1,570 South African adults conducted face-to-face from Feb. 21 to March 30, 2025. Interviews were conducted in Afrikaans, English, North Sotho, South Sotho, Xhosa and Zulu. The survey is representative of the adult population ages 18 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the surveys in Kenya and Nigeria, refer to our country-specific methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used<\/a> for this report, along with responses, and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South Africa will soon host the annual G20 summit<\/a> \u2013 the first on the African continent \u2013 marking the end of the country\u2019s one-year term as president of the forum. In a survey conducted this spring, 41% of<\/strong> South<\/strong> Africans say their country\u2019s influence on the world stage has been getting weaker in recent years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around a quarter of South Africans (26%) say their country\u2019s influence has been getting stronger<\/em>. Another 31% see its role as being about the same as it\u2019s been in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on South Africans\u2019 views of their country\u2019s influence, jump to <\/em>Chapter 1<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the same survey, we asked South Africans their views of the United States and China. A 57% majority have favorable opinions of China while 50% say the same of the U.S. This marks the first time ratings of China are higher than ratings of the U.S. since we began tracking South Africans\u2019 opinion<\/strong> of these countries <\/strong>in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fieldwork timing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This survey of South Africans was fielded in the early months of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, after he cut funding for South Africa<\/a> and Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the annual meeting<\/a> of G20 foreign ministers. The survey preceded the arrival of White Afrikaner refugees<\/a> to the U.S. and Trump\u2019s confrontation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/a> in the White House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since last year, the share of South African adults who have favorable views of China has increased 10 percentage points, while the share who see the U.S. favorably has held steady at one of the lowest shares measured since we first asked this question in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This increase in positive ratings of China is also evident on other questions we regularly field. When asked which is the world\u2019s leading economic power \u2013 the U.S., China, the EU or Japan \u2013 South Africans increasingly recognize China as such (42 % vs. 33% in 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more South Africans say that it is more important to have strong economic ties with China (50%) than say the same about the U.S. (33%). The gap was smaller in 2019, when 42% preferred closer ties with the U.S., while 39% said the same about China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do South Africans\u2019 views of other countries and organizations compare?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Our Spring 2025 Global Attitudes Survey asked South Africans \u2013 as well as adults in 24 other countries \u2013 about their attitudes toward other nations and international organizations as well. Here\u2019s what we found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n