MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                   20 August 2021

Statistics South Africa to release the results of the benchmarked and rebased Gross  

Domestic Product (GDP) estimates

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has, in line with international standards and best practice, rebased and benchmarked the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ensure that the measurement of the GDP remains reflective of the South African economy and relevant, given structural changes that occur in the economy over time. Stats SA will be releasing the results of the benchmarked and rebased GDP at a media briefing to be held on Wednesday, 25 August 2021.

To ensure that gross domestic product (GDP) estimates remain relevant, countries periodically make improvements to how national accounts are calculated. This is done to ensure that major changes in the structure of the economy are incorporated into the calculations and that the method of calculating GDP is aligned with the latest international standards. Rebasing and benchmarking of GDP estimates is done every five years. Rebasing involves changing the reference year for the real estimates of national accounts; it is for this reason that the reference year for South Africa has been changed from 2010 to 2015. Benchmarking involves incorporating data from new or additional sources into the estimates so as to provide a better picture of the current structure of the economy. This provides an opportunity to incorporate new data sources as well as to refine the methodologies that are used.

Members of the media are invited as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 25 August 2021

Extended Lockup: 10:30     

Presentation: 11:00

Embargo: 11:30

Venue: Statistics South Africa building (ISIbalo House), Koch Street, Salvokop, Pretoria

GPS coordinates: -25.761743, 28.186824

RSVP:

Lockup secession has been extended to allow sufficient time to analyse the report.

NB: All COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be adhered to.