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 »

MEDIA ADVISORY 10 May 2016 The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release a report on Development in the rural and urban nodes between 2001 and 2011, at a media briefing to be held on Thursday 12, May 2016. The report presents the state of development in rural and urban nodes with regards   read more »

Despite rising interest rates and worsening economic conditions, South Africans seem to be coping with their debt. Data from the South African Reserve Bank and Stats SA’s Statistics of civil cases for debt release indicates some resilience on the part of South African debtors. The South African Reserve Bank hiked the repo rate twice in   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 »

The economics of Christmas: disrupting the normal You are looking for a Christmas gift for Aunt Edna. As you browse the aisles, you think of how much you are looking forward to the trip down to the coast. December is an unusual time for the country economically. Monthly statistics on the economy clearly show how   read more »

How did South Africa’s major minerals do last year? With mining recently under the spotlight, Stats SA’s latest Mining: Production and sales release provides an overview of mining performance in 2015. The mining industry performed better in 2015 than it did in 2014. Annual mining production was up by 3,5% in 2015, following a drop   read more »

South Africa’s economy grew by 1,3% in 2015, down from 1,5% in 2014 and 2,2% in 2013, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) published by Stats SA. Overall economic growth in 2015 was characterised by two of the main industry groups shrinking in size, while the other eight experienced some growth.   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 »