On 23 March 2022, it marked exactly two years since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the COVID-19 lockdown (an emergency protocol that requires South Africans to stay at home except for essential purposes) in South Africa for 21 days from 26 March 2020 to 16 April 2020. Although the lockdown was meant to last for only   read more »

Census 2022 is finally underway. It kicked off with Census Night on Wednesday, 2 February 2022 and will run until 28 February 2022. Thousands of Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) fieldworkers will visit more than 17 million households to count the country’s population, in not only the fourth census since the country’s transition to democracy,   read more »

On 8 October 2021, the South African government launched a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate. The COVID-19 vaccine certificate is only available to people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The certificate is meant to enable vaccinated people to provide proof of vaccination status. The vaccination certificate will also help those who are vaccinated to attend   read more »

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is the official agency that measures South Africa’s inflation rate. Up until now, Stats SA has been collecting price information for categories of products typically purchased in retail outlets through field workers who have been using paper questionnaires. However, starting from the first quarter of 2022, Stats SA will be   read more »

The year 2020 had been a tough year for tourism industry around the world. According to United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, with international arrivals dropping by 74%. The international destinations receiving one billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in the previous year, due   read more »

Population estimation or projections are important for any country because they help organizations, governments, researchers and policy makers to plan and make decisions about the future of the country. Projections can help these organizations estimate the volume of basic human need such as food, water, sanitation, housing, power and transportations required by the population of   read more »

Women and Men in Informal economy: A statistical picture report of International Labour Organisation (ILO) published on 30 April 2018 indicate more than 60% of the world’s employed population earn their livelihoods in the informal economy. According to the report, 2 billion people representing 61,2% of the world’s employed population work in informal employment and   read more »

The statistics published in this month’s issue of Mbalo Brief are mostly from March 2021, which marks a year since the start of the lockdown restrictions in South Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the tourism industry is still struggling, partly due to the decrease in the number of international visitors, it   read more »

Just over a year after Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) suspended face-toface data collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation issued a note on 26 April 2021 that the surveys are due to be undertaken. The Survey Officers (SOs) have returned to the field to collect data from households that have been selected to   read more »

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic has posed some challenges on the education in South Africa and across the globe. Many learners, students, lecturers, teachers and even parents and guardians were forced to transition from the contact (physical classroom) learning environment to virtual learning. Parents and guardians instantly became teachers overnight as they had to assist   read more »