In the fourth quarter of 2021, South Africa’s merchandise exports continued on their upward trend, recording a 7.6%  year-on-year increase, amounting to R466 billion. However, quarterly growth was marginal, with a 0.8% increase from Q3 2021. Imports also markedly increased by 17.8% year-on-year, amounting to R381 billion in Q4 2021 and, on…

South Africa’s merchandise exports have continued on their upward trajectory, although at a slower pace, increasing by 13.1 % in Q3 2021 from Q3 2020, amounting to R460 billion. However, a quarterly analysis for the period under review indicates that exports have marginally declined by 7.8% from Q2 2021. The…

South Africa’s merchandise exports reached a new high in the second quarter of 2021 amounting to R520 billion, an 80.2% increase from the same period last year and a 26.3% increase from the previous quarter (Q1 2021). Although the large year-on-year increase in export values is partially reflective of a…

The first quarter of 2021 saw South Africa’s merchandise exports increase by 20.2% from the same period last year, amounting to R406 billion, although it experienced a slight decline of 2.6% from the previous quarter (Q4 2020). Though South Africa’s exports have been on an increasing trend, recovering from the…

South Africa’s robust third quarter recovery in merchandise exports continued in the fourth quarter of 2020, growing at an even faster pace by 16.6% (quarter-on-quarter), amounting to R412 billion. The decline in imports moderated to -6.3%, amounting to R307 billion, in constant rand terms compared to the -19.6% decline in…

South Africa’s merchandise export performance bounced back in the third quarter of 2020, growing by 9.2% (year-on-year) and 40.2% from the previous quarter amounting to R388 billion, an impressive improvement from the historic slump experienced in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the lockdown. The third quarter…

The second quarter of 2020 saw a strong decline in exports, combined with an even stronger slump in imports as international trade slowed down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several sectors, however, particularly agriculture and parts of mining, were able to increase exports over the quarter. Stringent COVID-19 containment measures…

In the first quarter of 2020, which represents the period before widespread global lockdowns were implemented due to the COVID-19 crisis, South Africa continued with a positive trade balance. A trade surplus of R34.7 billion in constant rand was recorded in Q1 2020, up by 42% from the previous quarter.…

South Africa’s trade balance remained positive for the third consecutive quarter, recording a surplus of R23.2 billion in constant rand in Q4 2019 from R6 billion in the previous quarter. The upswing in the trade balance came about as the value of merchandise imports sharply declined by 5.6% to R319…