Mbalo Brief- May 2017
Temperatures across the country have begun to drop; this tells us that winter is here. As a result, many households and companies are starting to use electrical appliances to keep the cold away. This usually results in higher electricity bills. One of the ways in which consumers can cut high electricity costs is through house read more »
Statistics on the rocks: exploring the price of whiskey
International Whisk(e)y Day is on 27 March1. If you consider yourself a connoisseur of bourbon or rye, then the following is for you. Take a brief tour of what Stats SA has to say about whiskey in terms of its popularity and price. If whiskey is your preferred alcoholic beverage, you stand somewhat apart from read more »
Stats Biz – January 2017
When last did you copy data onto a blank CD? With the rise of USB sticks and cloud storage, gone are the days of backing up your data on a compact disk. It comes as no surprise then, that Stats SA removed blank CDs and DVDs from the latest version of the Consumer Price Index read more »
The new inflation basket: what’s in and what’s out
Stats SA recently announced changes to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket of goods and services. The changes provide interesting insight into how consumer spending patterns have shifted over the last four years. The basket forms the basis from which the monthly CPI is calculated. There are 412 products and services in the new basket, read more »
Tuition fee trends over time: what do the data show?
In a previous article, Stats SA outlined the importance of tuition fees – as a portion of total income – to the financial security of higher education institutions (HEIs)1 for the 2015 financial year. In this article, we provide a 10-year perspective of tuition fees to assess the significance of this source of HEI income. read more »
To bean or not to bean – a look at the price of your cup of coffee
To bean or not to bean – a look at the price of your cup of coffee Coffee. The lifeblood of many. The cup that jumpstarts your morning. The lack thereof creates zombies in offices across the world daily. The joys of drinking coffee are beautifully expressed in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Coffee Cantata, which read more »
Media Announcement: Consumer Price Index (P0141) August 2016 – Release date 21 September 2016
Media Announcement                                                                                     13 September 2016 Consumer Price Index (P0141) August 2016 – Release date 21 September 2016 Not all items in the CPI are surveyed each month. A detailed survey schedule of the items that are not surveyed monthly is available in Table F of the monthly publication. Lotto tickets (Recreation and read more »
The secret life of a slab of chocolate
You might celebrate World Chocolate Day today (7 July) by sitting back and feasting on your favourite slab of sugary goodness. At Stats SA, we love our chocolate. But we also love data and all things statistical. So, to honour today, we’ve teased out a few facts about the price of chocolate that you, as read more »
Stats Biz – April 2016
Many have commented on South Africa’s drought and how rapidly food prices have been rising. The latest release of Stats SA’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) unpacks the South African food basket to examine which items might be contributing to your rising grocery bill. Explore food prices, as well as other economic stories, in this edition read more »
Taking stock of food prices
Many have commented on South Africa’s drought and how rapidly food prices have been rising. The latest release of Stats SA’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) unpacks the South African food basket to examine which items might be contributing to your rising grocery bill. Imagine a basket sitting in front you, filled with a range of read more »