Education inflation the lowest in 30 years
Education inflation recorded its lowest annual rate in three decades, according to data from Stats SA’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release. Stats SA surveys educational institutions and crèches once a year in March. Education fees increased by 4,1% in 2021. Last year’s rise was 6,4%. Historical data shows that this is the lowest increase read more »
The peaks and troughs of municipal income
For many of us who are fortunate enough, things just work. Turn on a tap, and water flows. Flip a switch, and there is light. We often take for granted the extremely complex system that provides us with services every day. Local government is a vital cog in this system. South Africa’s 257 municipalities are read more »
PGM sales surge due to higher prices
Like all other commodities, South Africa’s production of platinum group metals (PGMs) was volatile in 2020 as miners tried to navigate the uncertainty and economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a snapshot of how PGM production, prices and sales fared during the year. Supplies were adversely affected by COVID-19 related mine disruptions read more »
Stats SA returns to field
More than a year after Stats SA suspended face-to-face data collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stats SA Survey Officers (SOs) will return to the field to collect contact details from households that have been selected to participate in one of our household surveys. “We have updated our sample, and need to collect contact details read more »
Municipalities: service delivery, bucket toilets and gender representation
There are two sides to every coin. Service delivery in South Africa is often measured from the demand side, via household surveys and the Population Census. What you might not know about is that data also exist for the supply side, collected from those who provide services. Every year Stats SA asks municipalities to provide read more »
When talking economics, consider the provinces
Economic growth is often quite lumpy. A national measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is useful to gauge how a country is doing as a whole. Still, it misses the fact that economic activity varies across towns, cities and regions. Stats SA’s most recent quarterly GDP release provides national data for the entire year of read more »
Formal non-agricultural sector jobs increase in the 4th quarter 2020
Jobs in the formal non-agricultural sector increased by 76 000 in the fourth quarter of 2020, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector in South Africa to approximately 9,64 million. This is according to the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q4:2020) survey released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). Year-on-year, formal sector read more »
Annual consumer inflation slows to an eight-month low
Headline inflation slowed to 2,9% in February from 3,2% in January, the lowest reading since June last year when the rate was 2,2%. This is the third time in the past 12 months that the annual rate has slipped below the bottom end of the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation target range. Inflation was below read more »
All the single ladies, put your hands up!
Single ladies, if you’re wondering why your man hasn’t proposed yet, perhaps he’s waiting to turn 37? According to a report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Marriages and Divorces, 2019, the median age of bridegrooms increased from 36 years in 2015 to 37 years in 2019. Similarly, the age of brides increased from read more »
Headline GDP growth rate will no longer be annualised
If you work with gross domestic product (GDP) data or have an interest in economic statistics, the following note might be important to you. Stats SA announced in its most recent GDP statistical release1 that it will no longer use the annualised rate as the headline rate of change. There are several measures of economic read more »