As a result of the crisis in Asia, the share of South African exports destined for Asian countries, including Japan, declined from more than 21% of total exports in the third quarter of 1997 to about 15% in the fourth quarter of last year.
African economies were also experiencing hard times, and the contribution of exports to Africa fell slightly to below 14% of total exports over the same period. South African exporters did, to some extent, offset the effects of the recession in these economies by redirecting trade flows to markets less affected by the crisis.