South Africa’s economy grew by 1,5% in 2014, down from 2,2% in 2013, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by Stats SA. Eight of the ten industry groups experienced some growth during the year, while two industries shrank in size. The industry that grew the fastest in 2014 was agriculture1,   read more »

The manufacturing industry recorded the third consecutive quarter-on-quarter contraction in 2014, shrinking by 3,4% in the third quarter of 2014. In the second quarter manufacturing posted a growth rate of -4,0% and in the first quarter -6,4%.  The other industry that recorded a negative growth rate in the third quarter was electricity, gas and water,   read more »

On 25 November 2014 Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will publish the first estimates of gross domestic product for the 3rd quarter of 2014. This statistical release will, however, differ from previous releases in two important aspects. Benchmarking and rebasing It is good international practice to periodically change the reference year used in economic statistics,   read more »

Media Announcement 26 February 2014 Re: Break of Embargo Rule by Dow Jones Journalist Wall Street Journal- Dow Jones journalist recently attended the embargoed release of the GDP results of the last quarter of 2013 at Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) offices and violated the rules of the embargo by releasing the data 22 minutes   read more »

Before the slump in 2008/09 due to the global recession, manufacturing performed well, recording annual growth rates of 2,9%, 4,6% and 4,2% for 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. The recovery after the recession from 2010 to 2012 was sluggish, and 2013 showed anaemic annual growth of 1,3% to date. Factory output remains far from the   read more »

Background On 05 August 2013, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published an ‘Agricultural households’ report which is based on Population Census 2011 (Census 2011). This report covers all types of agriculture, namely subsistence, smallholder and commercial. This is an important milestone since as a country, we are taking the first step to better understand and   read more »

Inside this edition: How to access statistics 2, What South Africans die of 3, The power of place 4, Empowering communities 5, Surveys in your area 6, What is GDP? 7, Test your knowledge 8

With the conclusion of the 5th summit of the BRICS countries at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban, it is starting to sink in among many South Africans that their country is a member state of this emerging economic group. BRICS is an economic grouping of five emerging markets comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.   read more »