According to the Tourism, 2020 report released by Statistics South Africa, foreign arrivals dropped by 71% from just over 15, 8million in 2019 to less than 5 million in 2020. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the tourism industry quite hard around the world and in South Africa, mainly due to the lockdown   read more »

Education inflation recorded its lowest annual rate in three decades, according to data from Stats SA’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release. Stats SA surveys educational institutions and crèches once a year in March. Education fees increased by 4,1% in 2021. Last year’s rise was 6,4%. Historical data shows that this is the lowest increase   read more »

Like all other commodities, South Africa’s production of platinum group metals (PGMs) was volatile in 2020 as miners tried to navigate the uncertainty and economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a snapshot of how PGM production, prices and sales fared during the year. Supplies were adversely affected by COVID-19 related mine disruptions   read more »

There are two sides to every coin. Service delivery in South Africa is often measured from the demand side, via household surveys and the Population Census. What you might not know about is that data also exist for the supply side, collected from those who provide services. Every year Stats SA asks municipalities to provide   read more »

Economic growth is often quite lumpy. A national measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is useful to gauge how a country is doing as a whole. Still, it misses the fact that economic activity varies across towns, cities and regions. Stats SA’s most recent quarterly GDP release provides national data for the entire year of   read more »

Headline inflation slowed to 2,9% in February from 3,2% in January, the lowest reading since June last year when the rate was 2,2%. This is the third time in the past 12 months that the annual rate has slipped below the bottom end of the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation target range. Inflation was below   read more »

If you work with gross domestic product (GDP) data or have an interest in economic statistics, the following note might be important to you. Stats SA announced in its most recent GDP statistical release1 that it will no longer use the annualised rate as the headline rate of change. There are several measures of economic   read more »

Stats SA’s Gross domestic product (GDP) release for the fourth quarter of 2020 (October–December) concludes the series for the year, providing a sobering overview of 2020.   Manufacturing and trade help lift growth in the fourth quarter The economy grew by 1,5% in the fourth quarter, giving an annualised1 growth rate of 6,3%. This follows   read more »

The annual rate of consumer inflation was 3,2% in January, slightly up from December’s reading of 3,1%. The monthly increase in the consumer price index was 0,3%, following 0,2% between November and December. The monthly changes in the CPI have remained within a range of 0% to 0,3% since August 2020. Food and non-alcoholic beverages,   read more »

While many couples will be celebrating Valentine’s Day this Sunday, 14 February, historians may have a different take on the day. 14 February 2021 is the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the rand as South Africa’s currency. Following the adoption of recommendations of the Decimal Coinage Commission in 1958, the British-styled pounds, shillings and   read more »