Patrick Kelly, Executive Manager for Price Statistics, provides some insights into how inflation affects the most vulnerable. The combined effect of the severe drought and the depreciation of the rand drove annual food inflation to 9,8% in March, its highest level in four years. Periods of high food inflation often spark an outpouring of concern   read more »

Many have commented on South Africa’s drought and how rapidly food prices have been rising. The latest release of Stats SA’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) unpacks the South African food basket to examine which items might be contributing to your rising grocery bill. Imagine a basket sitting in front you, filled with a range of   read more »

24 February 2016 Media Invite       Stats SA releases Gross domestic product (GDP), Q4  2015 The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release the Gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for the fourth quarter of 2015 at a media briefing to be held on Tuesday, 1 March 2016 in Pretoria. The media briefing will be   read more »

Much has been said about the importance of tourism, particularly of its role in economic growth, employment and attracting foreign exchange. The latest Tourism Satellite Account for South Africa report provides indicators of tourism’s role in these three spheres. Time series for much of the data are now available (10 years).   Tourism as a   read more »

The South African economy was hit hard by the global economic crisis of 2008/2009. The country’s manufacturing industry contracted sharply, and its subsequent recovery has been insufficient for the volume of manufacturing production to return to its pre-crisis level. Figure 1 shows SA’s manufacturing production (volume) compared with OECD industrial production.1 Preliminary manufacturing data for   read more »

A growing number of forecasts reveal that food prices might rise sharply in coming months. Survey data show which parts of the country are most vulnerable. Current data point to an agriculture industry that is struggling. During November 2015, in the midst of South Africa’s worst drought in 23 years, Stats SA released gross domestic   read more »

In honour of cake day on 26 November, we are taking a fresh look at the latest price data of this popular dessert. Stats SA published a story on the price of cake in July 2015, we now look at how prices have changed since then. Interestingly, there hasn’t been any big changes. The average   read more »

Media Invite                                                        19 November 2015 Stats SA releases Gross domestic product (GDP), Q3 2015 The Statistician-General of South Africa, Mr Pali Lehohla, will release the Gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for the third quarter of 2015 at a media briefing to be held on Tuesday, 24 November 2015 in Pretoria. The media briefing will be   read more »

If you are thinking of celebrating international beer day on 7 August 2015 with your favourite pint, take a few moments to consider how this beverage might affect your pocket. South Africans love their beer. Households allocated 60% of their expenditure on alcoholic beverages to this type of drink, followed by wine (23%) and spirits   read more »

Digging a little deeper into the latest consumer price data shows how you can make informed choices about your sweet tooth. If you love to have cake on a regular basis, it might be interesting to know that you are now paying almost 30% more for a cake than you did in June 2010. The   read more »