The economic downturn and reduced levels of government infrastructure investment have taken a heavy economic toll on capital spending by the public sector. Public-sector spending on infrastructure (referred to as capital expenditure) decreased for a third consecutive year, falling from R250 billion in 2018 to R231 billion in 2019 according to Stats SA’s latest Capital expenditure by   read more »

It has been five years since the #FeesMustFall campaign. Stats SA takes a look at where higher education institutions get their money from, and how these revenue streams have shifted since 2015. The #FeesMustFall campaign began in October 2015 when thousands of students took to campuses across the country to protest rising tuition fees. The   read more »

South Africa’s annual inflation rate was 3,0% in September, lower than the rates recorded in July (3,2%) and August (3,1%). The change in the consumer price index between August 2020 and September 2020 was 0,2%, identical to the reading in the previous month. The alcoholic beverages and tobacco division was the main reason for the   read more »

MEDIA NOTICE                                                                                             25 October 2020 Delay in the release of QLFS Quarter 3 2020 results The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) publication for the 3rd quarter of 2020, scheduled for release on 27 October 2020, is delayed. This is to allow time for additional data confrontation and the adjustments that need to be done, given   read more »

The national lockdown and closure of Stats SA’s Head Office for disinfection and sanitisation after COVID-19 infections has resulted in a delay in the processing of death notification forms which, due to the sensitive nature of the information, cannot be processed off-site. The 2018 Mortality and Causes of Death report, scheduled for publication on 29   read more »

According to the Quarterly employment statistics (QES) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the formal non-agricultural sector shed 648 000 jobs in the second quarter of 2020. This brings the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to 9,5 million. According to the report, formal sector jobs decreased   read more »

The concern over declining infrastructure investment was further confirmed by Stats SA’s most recent release of its Financial statistics of provincial government report. Delays and interruptions hampered infrastructure spending by provincial government during the 2018/19 fiscal year. Explore the importance of capital expenditure, as well as other stories, in this edition of Stats Biz. Download   read more »

In South Africa, the month of September is known as Heritage Month with Heritage Day being celebrated on 24 September. Heritage Day is declared a public holiday and it is celebrated annually to mark our nation’s diverse culture and heritage. This year the celebrations took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 theme   read more »