Indicative of an economy under strain, expenditure by general government increased by just 4,7% from 2015/16 to 2016/17. This is the lowest annual rise in spending on record since 2005/06, when Stats SA started publishing the current series of its Financial statistics of consolidated general government report. The latest financial data provide an updated picture   read more »

  MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                            read more »

It might sound like an anecdote from a reminiscing grandparent, that there was a time you could completely fill your petrol tank (45 litres) with just R270. Those good old days weren’t that long ago, actually. The price of inland 95-octane petrol fell to a low of R6,01 in January 2009 on the back of tumbling   read more »

Press statement                           Embargo: Tuesday 4 September 2018, 11:30   GDP in the second quarter of 2018 contracted by 0,7%   Gross domestic product (measured by production) South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0,7% in the second quarter of 2018.1 The agriculture,   read more »

The South African economy slipped into recession during the second quarter of 2018, shrinking by 0,7% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted and annualised). This followed a revised 2,6% contraction in the first quarter of 2018. The widely recognised indicator of recession is two (or more) consecutive quarters of negative growth (real GDP quarter-on-quarter). South Africa experienced its   read more »

Three of South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities were headed by female mayors in 2017. Executive Mayors Zandile Gumede (eThekwini), Olly Mlamleli (Mangaung) and Patricia de Lille (Cape Town) collectively presided over a population of 8,7 million people, comprising 15% of South Africa’s total population.1 It’s not only these high-profile cities that have a woman in   read more »

The most popular name given to babies in 2017 is Enzokuhle. The name, which shares the top spot for both males and females, loosely translates to, “to do good”. According to the Recorded Live Births, 2017 report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), a person’s forename and surname are fundamental human rights enshrined in   read more »

Recent news reports of sewage spills in the Vaal Dam have again raised concerns over South Africa’s water resources. In order to reduce the costs of maintaining the country’s water network, government has embarked on a programme to train unemployed youth with skills to patch up ageing infrastructure. An important tool to fight joblessness is   read more »

More detailed data from the consumer price index (CPI) will be made available on the Stats SA website from this month onwards, starting with the July 2018 CPI release that will be published on 22 August 2018. New time series will be available in Excel and ASCII formats at a further level of detail than   read more »

A pull-back in spending on plant, machinery, new construction works and transport equipment saw capital expenditure in the public sector fall by 4,3% in 2017, according to Stats SA’s latest Capital expenditure by the public sector report. Capital expenditure is money that an institution spends to buy, maintain or upgrade fixed assets, such as buildings,   read more »