Economy edges up by 0,8% in 2018
The South African economy grew by 1,4%1 in the fourth quarter of 2018, contributing to an overall growth rate of 0,8% for the entire year. The latest set of gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by Stats SA provides an overview of economic performance in 2018. South Africa found itself in economic recession in 2018, read more »
Falling fuel prices drag inflation down
Consumer inflation dropped to 4,0% in January 2019 from 4,5% in December 2018. This is the lowest annual rate since March 2018, when headline inflation came in at 3,8%. The actual index level is now lower than it was in October 2018, according to Stats SA’s latest Consumer Price Index release1. This means that, on average, read more »
Mining production stumbles in 2018
The Investing in African Mining Indaba, the world’s largest mining conference, ended a week ago in Cape Town. Investment promises made at the conference might have a positive impact on the future of the industry. Stats SA takes a look at how mining fared in 2018. Mining had a lacklustre year. Production fell by 1,6% read more »
General government spending slows in 2016/17
Indicative of an economy under strain, expenditure by general government increased by just 4,7% from 2015/16 to 2016/17. This is the lowest annual rise in spending on record since 2005/06, when Stats SA started publishing the current series of its Financial statistics of consolidated general government report. The latest financial data provide an updated picture read more »
Stats SA to make more detailed CPI data available
More detailed data from the consumer price index (CPI) will be made available on the Stats SA website from this month onwards, starting with the July 2018 CPI release that will be published on 22 August 2018. New time series will be available in Excel and ASCII formats at a further level of detail than read more »
How do women fare in the South African labour market?
The South African labour market is more favourable to men than it is to women and men are more likely to be in paid employment than women, regardless of race. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa, the official unemployment rate has been relatively high since 2008. In the last read more »
Mbalo Brief – June 2018
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will be launching its first commemorative Nelson Mandela banknote series in celebration of the first democratically elected president’s birth centenary. These notes will be issued into circulation by 18 July 2018 and will cover all denominations of R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200. As part of the celebrations, the read more »
GDP in the first quarter of 2018 contracted by 2,2%
Press statement Embargo: Tuesday 5 June 2018, 11:30 GDP in the first quarter of 2018 contracted by 2,2% Gross domestic product (measured by production) South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 2,2% in the first quarter of 2018.1 The manufacturing industry and the mining and quarrying industry were the largest negative contributors to read more »
How important is tourism to the South African economy?
At the 2018 International Travel Trade Show in Germany held in March 2018, South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona was quoted as stating that tourism is vitally important to the South African economy, and that the sector should be nurtured for sustained and inclusive growth. Recent data from Stats SA show how important tourism actually read more »