Stats SA collects information on education fees once a year in March. According to the latest review, education is 6,3% more expensive in 2024 than in 2023. High schools recorded the most significant fee increases, followed by primary schools and tertiary institutions. Explore education inflation, as well as other stories, in this edition of Stats   read more »

  After a bumper month in March, Stats SA’s publication schedule was quieter in April. The statistical agency published 20 releases, many of which provide an update on the state of the economy. Consumer inflation remains above 5% Annual consumer inflation declined to 5,3% in March after climbing for the first two months of the   read more »

Stats SA had a packed publication schedule in March. The statistical agency published 37 releases in the month, including several annual and quarterly reports. Notable releases: Tourism, water and municipal services The headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic hit all industries hard, including the tourism sector. Although tourism is slowly returning to an even keel, it   read more »

Households and businesses are adopting alternative sources of energy as load shedding bites. What may not be well known is that many municipalities are in the game too, providing off-grid energy sources to the poorest households. The Free Basic Alternative Energy (FBAE) policy1 instructs municipalities to supply alternative sources of energy to poor households that   read more »

South Africa has been experiencing drier and hotter weather in the last few months. According to the South African Weather Service (SAWS) the heatwave that started on Sunday, 19 November 2023 and reached its peak on 27 November, broke records for being the hottest November in the country. On the 27th of November, more than   read more »

South Africa has made strides in terms of registration of births. The results of a report, Estimating the completeness of birth registration in South Africa, 2002–2016, indicates that the number of registered births were high and on an increasing trajectory. There has been a significant increase in the number of children registered within the first   read more »

South Africa’s economy grew by a marginal 0,1% in the fourth quarter, taking the annual growth rate for 2023 to 0,6%. Six of the ten industries kept the economy afloat, with the transport, storage & communication industry making the biggest positive impact. On the downside, trade, agriculture, construction and government were weaker. Explore the latest   read more »

The producer price indices (PPIs) for January 2024 will reflect updates to the basket and weights and will be rebased to December 2023 = 100. The weights determine what products should comprise the basket of goods that create the elementary indices of the PPI. The number of products in final and intermediate manufacturing combined will   read more »

Recent data provide a complete overview of how consumer inflation behaved in 2023. The average inflation rate for the year was 6,0%, lower than 2022’s 6,9%. Inflation was relatively hot in the first five months of 2023 (January–May), with the headline rate consistently above 6,0%. The rate then dipped below this level for the remaining   read more »

There is so much need but not enough money. Often faced with hard decisions on where to allocate scarce resources, governments usually have their own unique spending priorities. The South African government spent R2 187 billion (or R2,19 trillion) in the 2021/2022 fiscal year. This was R83 billion more than the R2 104 billion recorded in 2020/2021. Stats SA’s Financial statistics   read more »