Yearly Archives: 2021

Stats SA returns to field

More than a year after Stats SA suspended face-to-face data collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stats SA Survey Officers (SOs) will return to the field to collect contact details from households that have been selected to participate in one of our household surveys. “We have updated our sample, and need to collect contact details   read more »


Statistics South Africa to resume field visits to ensure data integrity for household surveys amid COVID-19 restrictions

  For immediate release                                                                                                                                                 1 April 2021 Statistics South Africa to   read more »


Municipalities: service delivery, bucket toilets and gender representation

Municipalities: service delivery, bucket toilets and gender representation

There are two sides to every coin. Service delivery in South Africa is often measured from the demand side, via household surveys and the Population Census. What you might not know about is that data also exist for the supply side, collected from those who provide services. Every year Stats SA asks municipalities to provide   read more »


When talking economics, consider the provinces

When talking economics, consider the provinces

Economic growth is often quite lumpy. A national measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is useful to gauge how a country is doing as a whole. Still, it misses the fact that economic activity varies across towns, cities and regions. Stats SA’s most recent quarterly GDP release provides national data for the entire year of   read more »


Formal non-agricultural sector jobs increase in the 4th quarter 2020

Formal non-agricultural sector jobs increase in the 4th quarter 2020

Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 76 000 in the fourth quarter of 2020, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,64 million. This is according to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q4:2020) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). Year-on-year, formal sector   read more »


Statistician-General to release the results of the Non-financial census of municipalities, 2019

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                            25 March 2021   Statistician-General to release the results of the Non-financial census of municipalities, 2019 The Statistician-General of South Africa, Mr Risenga Maluleke, will release the results of the Non-Financial Census of Municipalities (NFCM) 2019, at a media briefing to be held on Wednesday, 31 March 2021 in Pretoria. The NFCM   read more »


Annual consumer inflation slows to an eight-month low

Annual consumer inflation slows to an eight-month low

Headline inflation slowed to 2,9% in February from 3,2% in January, the lowest reading since June last year when the rate was 2,2%. This is the third time in the past 12 months that the annual rate has slipped below the bottom end of the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation target range. Inflation was below   read more »


All the single ladies, put your hands up!

All the single ladies, put your hands up!

Single ladies, if you’re wondering why your man hasn’t proposed yet, perhaps he’s waiting to turn 37? According to a report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Marriages and Divorces, 2019, the median age of bridegrooms increased from 36 years in 2015 to 37 years in 2019. Similarly, the age of brides increased from   read more »


Mbalo Brief – March 2021

On 14 February 2021, the rand was turning 60 years. The rand was first introduced as a South African currency on 14 February 1961, the year South Africa became a republic and Queen Elizabeth ceased to be head of state. The rand takes its name from the Witwatersrand – the ridge on which Johannesburg is   read more »


Headline GDP growth rate will no longer be annualised

Headline GDP growth rate will no longer be annualised

If you work with gross domestic product (GDP) data or have an interest in economic statistics, the following note might be important to you. Stats SA announced in its most recent GDP statistical release1 that it will no longer use the annualised rate as the headline rate of change. There are several measures of economic   read more »