The South African economy slipped into recession in the fourth quarter of 2019, contracting by 1,4%. This followed a contraction of 0,8% (revised) in the third quarter. Transport and trade were the main drags on overall activity. Finance, mining and personal services managed to keep their heads above water. Explore the latest gross domestic product   read more »

The South African economy contracted by 1,4% in the fourth quarter of 2019, following a contraction of 0,8% (revised) in the third quarter.1 Transport and trade were the main drags on overall activity, according to the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures. Seven of the ten industries contracted in the fourth quarter. Finance, mining and   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                     02 March 2020 Unwanted Fertility in South Africa 2016 Report According to the 2016 Unwanted fertility report released by Statistics South Africa, amongst women born in 1965-1969, about 54% of them experienced fertility when they did not plan to have any more births, and this was an increase from 13,2% in the 1998   read more »

It is often said that each generation should be better off than their parents. In South Africa, generational changes have largely been impacted by important political changes that affected the choices available to Generation X’ers and Millennials in terms of their educational and labour market participations. According to a recent report, Education and Labour Market   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                            25 February 2020 Education Series Volume VI: Education and Labour Market Outcomes in South Africa, 2018 Two out of ten (19,9%) of the total South African population were Generation X adults, while more than one-third of the population (35,3%), were Millennials, and the majority (45,5%) were the Born-free generation, this is according to   read more »

How much do South Africans pay for groceries? Stats SA has released a list with prices of 191 popular retail items with data going back to 2017. The list holds some surprises. Pulled from that list, each item in the graphic below has its own unique story. The national average price of a loaf of   read more »

South Africa’s annual inflation rate was 4,5% in January, higher than that recorded in December (4,0%) and November (3,6%). This places inflation right on the 4,5% midpoint of the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy target range. The main contributors to the 4,5% rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing and utilities; transport; and miscellaneous   read more »

Exactly a week after delegates closed the 26th Investing in African Mining Indaba, Stats SA released data on the performance of the mining industry in 2019. The level of production was 1,3% lower in 2019 than 2018, which in turn was 2,1% lower than 2017. Despite a positive showing from both copper and manganese, a   read more »

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                   11 February 2020                                        Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) – Q4:2019 The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2019 indicate that the official unemployment rate remained unchanged (29,1%) compared to   read more »

South Africa is known as one of the most unequal countries in the world, reporting a per-capita expenditure Gini coefficient of 0,67 in 2006, dropping to 0,65 in 2015. This is according to the Inequality Trends in South Africa report released by Stats SA. According to the Palma ratio, the top 10% of the population   read more »