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 »

Media Release                                                                                          04 August 2015 Slow growth rate in tourist arrivals in South Africa in 2014 but salient characteristics remain virtually unchanged According to the 2014 Tourism report released by Statistics South Africa, 9,5 million tourists were recorded among a total of 15,1 million people who arrived in South Africa in 2014. In the recent   read more »

The March 2015 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed that total formal non-agricultural employment decreased by 44 000 jobs from 8 986 000 in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 8 942 000 in the first quarter of 2015. This is a quarterly decrease of 0.5 %. The quarterly decrease was mainly due to decreases   read more »

Salary bonuses and changing seasons shift municipal spending, according to data from Stats SA’s latest Quarterly financial statistics of municipalities report. Bonuses paid to municipal staff drove up employee-related costs at the end of 2014. Municipalities spent R19,3 billion on employees in the quarter ended December 2014, decreasing to R17,6 billion in the quarter ended   read more »

Turnover for private sector enterprises dropped by 5,2% in the first quarter of 2015, the highest quarter-on-quarter percentage decrease since the first quarter of 2010. Total turnover fell from R2,06 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2014 (the quarter ending December) to R1,95 trillion in the first quarter of 2015 (the quarter ending March), according   read more »

Africa Renewal: Some experts say there is a major problem with how statistics are collected in Africa. What is the problem? Pali Lehohla: There is a major challenge on the continent with statistics. But in interpreting the problem, there are two major trends. There is one based less on facts and more on hype. This one gets very popular and is widely publicized. There   read more »

The value of building plans passed and buildings completed are two indicators that can be used to gauge the state of the building industry. The infographic below outlines some key findings from Stats SA’s latest Selected building statistics of the private sector as reported by local government institutions report. Download the complete publication here.

Calls to decrease the world’s dependence on coal as an energy source are well intentioned. Lower use would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and less demand would lower the environmental risk of coal mining. However, as the world moves away from coal, South Africa will need to consider the implications. The country depends heavily on the   read more »

The great book says it all in Matthew 26-11 that “The poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me”. And in Matthew 19-24 the great book says ‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who   read more »

18 May 2015 The release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) publication for the first quarter of 2015 will be postponed to the 26th of May 2015. The release is postponed determine the impact of the implementation of a new master sample, based on the 2011 Census, on the QLFS series. The first quarter   read more »