IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Youth in South Africa continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current official   read more »

Economically, no country is an island. Just as a household cannot produce all that it needs on its own, South Africa depends on global trade for a range of goods and services. Take crude petroleum. Figure 1 tracks oil-related transactions across our economy, showing where crude petroleum comes from and where it ends up. The   read more »

The annual change in the consumer price index (CPI) was 5,9% in April, unchanged from 5,9% in March. The monthly rate decreased to 0,6% from 1,0%. This is the third time in five months that the annual rate was 5,9%, testing the 6% upper limit of the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy target range.   read more »

Residents of the Western Cape have an additional period – until 14 May – to complete the Census questionnaire. The province is still lagging behind the rest of the country in terms of completeness of data collection. Nationally, 88% of households have been counted while the Western Cape is at the 60% mark. Stats SA   read more »

In April and May 2022 Stats SA is updating its seasonal adjustment models for monthly business cycle indicators, namely mining, manufacturing, electricity, building, wholesale, retail, motor, tourist accommodation, food & beverages, land transport, and civil cases for debt. What is seasonal adjustment, and why is it so important for measuring and analysing the economy? We   read more »

Municipal financial systems have been overhauled. Under the new Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA) framework, municipalities have changed the way in which they do their finances. As a result, Stats SA implemented changes to its Quarterly financial statistics of selected municipalities (QFSSM) survey. What is the QFSSM? Not only does Stats SA publish data   read more »

Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1,2%1 in the fourth quarter (October–December), taking the annual growth rate for 2021 to 4,9%. The fourth quarter was upbeat, with personal services, trade, manufacturing and agriculture the key drivers of growth. An increase in demand for goods and services drove up the expenditure side of the economy,   read more »

Headline inflation dipped to 5,7% in January from 5,9% in December, mainly the result of lower fuel prices. The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0,2% between December and January, compared with a monthly rate of 0,6% in December. This CPI release is the first to be compiled using the recently updated weights and basket   read more »

Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 52 000 in the third quarter of 2021, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,62 million. According to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q3:2021) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), year-on-year, formal sector jobs increased   read more »

Net profit before tax in the formal business sector tumbled by 33,4% in the financial year 2020 compared with 2019, with business services and manufacturing the hardest hit. The data, from Stats SA’s latest Annual financial statistics (AFS) survey1 , which mostly covers the period before the lockdown, show that total net profit before tax   read more »