Income

The total income for the wholesale trade industry in 2012 was R1 107 758 million. The largest contributor to the total income was `wholesale trade in food, beverages and tobacco`   (R203 492 million or 18%), followed by `wholesale trade in other household goods`   (R193 131 million or 17%) and `wholesale trade in machinery, equipment and supplies` (R185 384 million or 17%).

Large enterprises (those with a turnover equal to or greater than R128 million) generated R765 797 million or 69% of the total income of the wholesale trade industry in 2012, followed by small enterprises (R181 140 million or 16%).

Expenditure

The total expenditure in the wholesale trade industry in 2012 was R1 079 549 million. The largest contributor to the total expenditure was `purchases` (R873 750 million or 81%), followed by `salaries and wages` (R75 000 million or 7%).

Employment

The total number of persons employed in the wholesale trade industry at the end of June 2012 was 454 238. `Wholesale trade in machinery, equipment and supplies` had the largest number of employees (85 547 or 19%), followed by `other wholesale trade` (84 493 or 19%) and `wholesale trade in food, beverages and tobacco` (70 880 or 16%).

Employment by enterprise size in 2012 indicates that the large enterprises (those with turnover equal to or greater than R128 million) had 184 560 employees (40%), followed by small enterprises with 143 270 employees (32%), micro enterprises with 76 360 employees (17%) and medium enterprises with 50 048 employees (11%).

The proportion of males out of the total persons employed in 2012 was 64% and that of females was 36%. The type of wholesale trade with the highest proportion of females employed was `wholesale trade in textile, clothing and footwear` (57%) whilst `wholesale trade in metals and metal ores