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 »

The total number of jobs reported in the first quarter showed an increase of 56 000 from the previous quarter, bringing the total number of persons employed in the formal non-agricultural sector to 9 838 000. According to the figures from the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) Survey, formal sector jobs rose year-on-year by 74 000 in the first quarter   read more »

The recent royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cast the spotlight on fairy-tale weddings. Images of a young couple who are madly in love and vow to spend the rest of their lives together, filled with expectations of a perfect marriage, are what fairy-tale weddings are made of. The truth is that not   read more »

Media advisory                                                                                            31 May 2018 Statistician-General to release Gross domestic   read more »

  MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                         10 May 2018 Statistician-General to release Quarterly Labour Force   read more »

The tourism sector directly contributed 2,9% to the South African gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, according to the latest release of Stats SA’s annual Tourism Satellite Account for South Africa report. The sector also employed just under 687 000 individuals, making it a larger employer than mining and utilities. Explore the economic impact of   read more »

At the 2018 International Travel Trade Show in Germany held in March 2018, South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona was quoted as stating that tourism is vitally important to the South African economy, and that the sector should be nurtured for sustained and inclusive growth. Recent data from Stats SA show how important tourism actually   read more »

In a time when good news seems hard to come by, the latest gross domestic product (GDP) results provide some cautious cheer. The South African economy grew by 1,3% in 2017, exceeding National Treasury’s expectation of 1,0% growth announced during the National Budget Speech in February. After a wobbly start to 2017, which saw economic   read more »