South Africa’s economy contracted by 1,3% (seasonally adjusted and annualised) in the second quarter of 2015, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by Stats SA. The quarter-on-quarter decrease in overall economic activity was characterised by five of the ten main industry groups shrinking in size, while the other five experienced   read more »

Hotel occupancy fell to 48,2% in June 2015, according to preliminary figures in Stats SA’s latest Tourist accommodation release. The hotel occupancy rate followed a seasonal pattern by falling in June after peaking in both October (62,4%) and February (60,6%)1. However, hotels had proportionally fewer rooms filled in June compared with the same month in   read more »

Stats SA’s latest extra-budgetary accounts (EBA) statistical release contains economically and functionally classified financial data on 233 funds for the 2013/14 fiscal year. EBAs do not operate through normal parliamentary budgetary processes, but they perform an integral role in delivering services of the national government. Some examples of EBAs include the South African Revenue Service,   read more »

If you are thinking of celebrating international beer day on 7 August 2015 with your favourite pint, take a few moments to consider how this beverage might affect your pocket. South Africans love their beer. Households allocated 60% of their expenditure on alcoholic beverages to this type of drink, followed by wine (23%) and spirits   read more »

In an environment of low real economic growth, South African public-sector institutions continued to plough an increasing amount of capital expenditure into the economy in the financial year 2013/14. This is evident from the latest capital expenditure survey, which indicates that total capital expenditure by the public sector rose from R224,8 billion in 2012/13 to   read more »

Rural municipalities continue to rely heavily on national government to finance their budgets, according to data from the latest release of Stats SA’s Financial census of municipalities report. For every R1 of revenue received by municipalities in the year 2014, 33c was in the form of grants and subsidies from national and provincial government. The   read more »

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) today released mid-year population estimates which put South Africa’s population at just over 54,9 million as at July 2015. The population increased by 1,65% between 2014 and 2015, with Gauteng remaining the most populous province, with almost 13,2 million inhabitants, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with a population of almost 10,9 million.   read more »

Digging a little deeper into the latest consumer price data shows how you can make informed choices about your sweet tooth. If you love to have cake on a regular basis, it might be interesting to know that you are now paying almost 30% more for a cake than you did in June 2010. The   read more »

Description: Since the redemarcation of municipalities in South Africa in 1998, the legal definition of urban and non-urban has fallen away. This discussion paper identifies differences in how areas were categorised as urban or non-urban in 1996 and 2001, and examines the census results in the light of these differences. It then experiments with definitions   read more »

On 25 and 26 June 1955, three thousand delegates gathered at Kliptown to adopt the Freedom Charter, a vision for a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa. The Congress of the People constituted the most representative gathering in the history of South Africa, and included workers, peasants, intellectuals, women, youth and students of all races   read more »