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 »

Annual food inflation continues to slow despite April’s rise in value added tax (VAT). In fact, some food items are actually cheaper than they were a year ago. The items you are now paying less for are in the oil, bread, fruit and sugar categories, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release.1 Bread   read more »

Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini and Cape Town contributed 49% to total municipal debt in 2016/17. Together, these four cities have a population of almost 17 million people, making up 30% of South Africa’s total population. Explore municipal debt, as well as other stories, in this edition of Stats Biz. Download Stats Biz – June 2018

Where does your tax money go after it has entered the state coffers? Recent data provide an overview of how national government distributes money to other levels of government. Stats SA publishes financial data for the different levels of government (i.e. national, provincial, local, extra-budgetary accounts) and higher education institutions in separate reports throughout the   read more »