Economy of the Free State

Bloemfontein has established educational infrastructure, a well-known university and many training institutions. However, some 16% of adult Free Staters have received no formal education. The official unemployment rate is about 23%.

The mining industry is the biggest contributor to the Free State's GDP and also the biggest employer in the province. Gold mining output forms, by some distance, the majority of the value of the Free State's mineral production. South Africa is the world's biggest producer of gold, with the Goldfields reef (400km long) stretching across Gauteng and the Free State. Free State Consolidated Goldfields is the largest gold mining complex, with a mining area of 32 918 ha. The Goldfields region is comprised of the districts of Odendaalsrus, Virginia & Welkom. The Harmony Gold Refinery is one of two gold refineries in the country (the other being the Rand Refinery).

The province's gold mines also produce a large amount of South Africa's silver production, as well as uranium (extracted as a by-product of the gold mining).

South Africa's largest deposit of bentonite is found in the Koppies district.

The bituminous coal mined in the Free State is converted to petrochemicals at Sasolburg.

The second-largest sector of the Free State's economy is manufacturing; with a significant portion being from high-technology industries (about 15%, the highest of all the provinces). An example is chemical products, which are manufactured by Sasol - various industries have developed around the extraction of chemicals from coal.

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