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 »

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 »

Since 1994, the government of South Africa has focused its attention on youth related matters such as unemployment, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and personal development, to commemorate the anniversary of the 16 June 1976 uprising. As this year (2014) marks the 38th year of the Youth Day anniversary, government will educate the youth about their history   read more »

6 June 2014 General Household Survey (GHS) 2013 Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will release the results of the General Household Survey (GHS) 2013, which will outline findings on multiple facets of the living conditions of South African households, as well as the quality of service delivery in a number of key service sectors. The   read more »

The unemployment rate among youth increased from 32,7% to 36,1% between 2008 and 2014; in the post recessionary period, the unemployment rate has been consistently higher among youth than among adults by more than 20 percentage points.  The report released by Statistics South Africa examines in detail various aspects of the situation faced by youth   read more »

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 »

The seasonally adjusted real GDP at market prices for the first quarter of 2014 decreased by an annualised rate of 0,6 per cent compared with an increase of 3,8 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2013. The main contributors to the decrease in economic activity in the first quarter of 2014 were the mining   read more »

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 »

It has only been five months into 2014, yet a lot has already happened. Just recently, on 7 May 2014, many South Africans went out in their numbers to vote in the fifth general election since the dawn of democracy. The African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer missions congratulated South Africa   read more »

Stats SA today released the Q1:2014 results which show a quarterly decline in employment by 122 000 due to a loss of 110 000 jobs in the informal sector. Formal sector employment was virtually unchanged at 10,8 million compared with the previous quarter, while both Private households and Agriculture shed jobs (14 000 and 5 000 respectively). The   read more »