The economics of Christmas: disrupting the normal You are looking for a Christmas gift for Aunt Edna. As you browse the aisles, you think of how much you are looking forward to the trip down to the coast. December is an unusual time for the country economically. Monthly statistics on the economy clearly show how   read more »

How did South Africa’s major minerals do last year? With mining recently under the spotlight, Stats SA’s latest Mining: Production and sales release provides an overview of mining performance in 2015. The mining industry performed better in 2015 than it did in 2014. Annual mining production was up by 3,5% in 2015, following a drop   read more »

BREAK OF EMBARGO Media Announcement 1 March 2016 Break of Embargo for GDP estimates of the fourth quarter of 2015  As the official statistics agency of South Africa, Statistics South Africa is guided by the 10 fundamental principles of official statistics. Principle 1 that deals with “relevance, impartiality and equal access” requires that care is   read more »

24 February 2016 Media Invite       Stats SA releases Gross domestic product (GDP), Q4  2015 The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release the Gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for the fourth quarter of 2015 at a media briefing to be held on Tuesday, 1 March 2016 in Pretoria. The media briefing will be   read more »

Media Release                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  26 February 2016 Education report focusing on the Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape has the second highest percentage of learners in the country that did not pay school fees (81%) in 2013 whereas Limpopo has the highest with 91,0%. This is significantly higher than the national average (62,4%).In 2013, 87,2% learners attended   read more »

MEDIA ADVISORY   For Immediate Release   26 February 2016                        Contact: Lesedi Dibakwane 0828057088                  lesedid@statssa.gov.za   Launch of Community Survey (CS) 2016   On Monday 29 February 2016, Minister in the Presidency honourable Jeff Radebe will, together with the Statistician-General, Dr Pali Lehohla, launch the Community Survey 2016 (CS) in Pretoria. The CS   read more »

Media Invite                                                                                                                                                                     19 February 2016   Stats SA releases the Non -Motorised transport report The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release a report on the Non- Motorised transport (NMT) report at a media briefing to be held on Thursday, 25 February 2016. This report is an in-depth analysis of the National Household   read more »

MEDIA INVITE                                                                                                                                                             19 February 2016 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the Forth Quarter (Q4) of 2015 The Statistician-General, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015 on Thursday, 25th February 2016.   The report will be released as follows: Date        read more »

Some parts of South Africa have experienced severe drought due to shortage of rainfall. According to the South African Weather Services (SAWS), the lowest annual total rainfall over the full 112-year period has been the January to December 2015 period. This period recorded an annual total of only 403 millimeters of rainfall. Government declared Mpumalanga,   read more »

As a new year begins, Stats Biz takes a look at selected economic stories from 2015. During that year a rumour wobbled an industry; South Africa entered its worst drought in decades; tertiary education was rocked by protests over tuition fees; and the price of cake was most expensive in the Western Cape. Explore these,   read more »