Households experience increased access to piped water, but are less satisfied with the service
Although the number and percentage of households in South Africa with access to piped water has increased steadily over the last decade, household satisfaction with the quality of water services has decreased. This is one of the findings from the latest release of Stats SA’s General Household Survey (GHS). Conducted on an annual basis since read more »
Highest inflation in almost five years
Inflation hits 6,6% in May 2014, the highest rate in almost five years (6,8% in July 2009). The monthly increase is a modest 0,2%. The big jump in the annual rate is mainly as a result of a drop of 0,3% in the index in May 2013. This drop was mainly a result of a 73c/l read more »
First quarter GDP down
The seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices for the first quarter of 2014 decreased by an annualised rate of 0,6 percent. The main contributors to this decrease in economic activity were the mining and quarrying industry (-1,3 percentage points) and the manufacturing industry (-0,7 of a percentage point). The mining and read more »
Inflation at 6,1%, outside the SARB inflation target range
The headline inflation rate continues to increase, printing at 6,1% in April with a 0,5% monthly increase. The big driver of the monthly increase is food and non-alcoholic beverages prices which registered a monthly increase of 1,3%. Within food, meat (2,0% month-on-month), and particularly beef (4,2% m/m) prices have accelerated. Maize, which is another heavily read more »
Inflation at 6%, hitting the ceiling of the SARB inflation target range
Hitting the ceiling of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) inflation target range, the CPI comes in at 6% this month, with a 1,3% monthly increase. The monthly increase is the largest since June 2008 (1,4%). The monthly increase has been steadily increasing since a low of 0,1% in November 2013. Food and non-alcoholic beverages read more »
Education: A roadmap out of poverty?
Findings from the Poverty Trends in South Africa report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Thursday showed a strong link between increased level of education and decreased levels of poverty. While the overall level of poverty has declined between 2006 and 2011, there are stark differences when one examines poverty status according to read more »
Poor households spend a third of their income on food
Poor households spend on average R8 485 per annum on food, which accounts for roughly 34% of their total household expenditure. This contrasts sharply with non-poor households, who spend R14 020 on average per annum on food. This only constitutes 10% of their total household expenditure. These findings form part of the poverty trends report which Stats read more »
Inflation just under the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) target ceiling
Consumer inflation edged up to 5,9% in February, just under the SARB target ceiling of 6%, from the 5,8% recorded in January. The monthly increase was 1,1%. There were three main groups contributing to the upward pressure this month – food, petrol and health insurance. Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation increased to 5,4%, from 3,5% read more »
Formal sector employment increases in quarter 4
The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) results show that number of employees working in businesses increased by 38 thousand – from 8 457 000 in the third quarter of 2013 to 8 495 000 in the fourth quarter. This was driven by an increase of 35 000 in the Trade industry and increases in the Community and social services read more »
A tale of two cities: Mortality and Causes of death in Cape Town and Tshwane
In 2011, 26 466 deaths that took place in Cape Town were recorded, compared to 19 574 deaths that occurred in Tshwane. Both cities had a decrease in the number of deaths from those observed in 2010, with a higher decrease observed for Cape Town (5,6%) than for Tshwane (1,7%). Most deaths that occurred in Cape Town read more »