Next time you dig into a delicious plate of fish and chips, take a moment to ponder the value of seafood as a natural resource. Stats SA’s latest Environmental Economic Accounts Compendium provides estimates of quantities of fish available in our oceans, as well as data on catch numbers. The oceans that straddle the Southern   read more »

How did South Africa’s major minerals do last year? With mining recently under the spotlight, Stats SA’s latest Mining: Production and sales release provides an overview of mining performance in 2015. The mining industry performed better in 2015 than it did in 2014. Annual mining production was up by 3,5% in 2015, following a drop   read more »

Minister Jeff Radebe, Minister in the Presidency, and the Statistician-General, Pali Lehohla, launched the enumeration phase of the Community Survey 2016 (CS 2016) today. The launch was held at one of the 330 training venues where Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is training more than 10 000 contract staff who will be deployed to collect information   read more »

Much has been said about the importance of tourism, particularly of its role in economic growth, employment and attracting foreign exchange. The latest Tourism Satellite Account for South Africa report provides indicators of tourism’s role in these three spheres. Time series for much of the data are now available (10 years).   Tourism as a   read more »

Some parts of South Africa have experienced severe drought due to shortage of rainfall. According to the South African Weather Services (SAWS), the lowest annual total rainfall over the full 112-year period has been the January to December 2015 period. This period recorded an annual total of only 403 millimeters of rainfall. Government declared Mpumalanga,   read more »

A growing number of forecasts reveal that food prices might rise sharply in coming months. Survey data show which parts of the country are most vulnerable. Current data point to an agriculture industry that is struggling. During November 2015, in the midst of South Africa’s worst drought in 23 years, Stats SA released gross domestic   read more »

“Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.” Walter Cronkite The Statistician-General for South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, today handed over the results of the 2015 KwaZulu-Natal Citizen Satisfaction Survey (CSS) to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the honourable Mr Edward Mchunu.  Handing over the   read more »

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), in collaboration with the South African Medical Research Council, will be conducting the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) in 2016 on behalf of the National Department of Health. The survey aims to provide a better understanding of the health status of the population in South Africa. Key topics   read more »

The September 2015 Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey showed that an estimated 8 951 000 persons were employed in the formal non-agricultural sector of the South African economy. This reflected a quarterly increase of 7 000 employees (+0,1%) between June 2015 and September 2015 and an annual increase of 4 000 employees (0,0%) between September   read more »

The education monograph provides an in-depth analysis of enrolment, educational attainment, progression, and education differentials based on post 1994 Censuses. Trend analysis is provided using time-plotting events, a technique where age proportions at one data collection point (Census 2011) is projected backwards. The findings on enrolment related indicators showed that among school going age (5-24),   read more »