At present, less than 10% of the unemployed actively looking for work are absorbed into the labour market each year. What about the 90% who will not make it? What are our strategies to support the economic inclusion of this large group of people – who are mainly young? This Development Dialogue focused…

TIPS hosted its Annual Forum 2025 in July The theme was the AfCFTA, regional integration and industrial development. Visit the the TIPS Forum website for more information. Videos, of the sessions as well as the presentations and papers are available here.

The TIPS Provincial Review 2024 analyses key economic and policy developments in the provinces. It comprises an overview report that summarises how the national economic geography is changing in terms of GDP, population, employment, formal business location, and infrastructure. For each province, a separate publication describes developments and major new projects in more depth. This review analyses provincial trends primarily up to 2023, the latest available estimates  as of early 2025 Overview Report The Real Economy Bulletin Provincial Review 2024 Provincial Reports  Eastern Cape: The Eastern Cape is the fourth most populous province in South Africa but has a slow…

In the third quarter of 2024, 16 projects were added to the Tracker. Investment amounts to R17.3 billion, from six projects that reported values. Investment was registered across mining, manufacturing, utilities and services. A total of 1300 potential employment opportunities were recorded from three projects. Monitoring further updated 17 pre-existing…

TIPS industry studies provide a comprehensive overview of key trends in leading industries in South Africa. They aim to provide background for policymakers and researchers, and to strengthen our understanding of current challenges and opportunities in each industry as a basis for a more strategic response. This study explores key…

Main Bulletin: The Real Economy Bulletin - Fourth Quarter 2024 In this edition GDP growth: The non-agricultural GDP grew by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2024. Every sector shrank, however, except business services, trade and agriculture. The slowdown in the past two years is associated with a sharp fall in world mining prices, affecting South Africa’s main exports. Surprising growth in agricultural value add pushed total GDP growth up to 0.6% for the quarter and for 2024 as a whole. Within manufacturing, results varied substantially by industry. Read more. Employment: Total employment increased by 2.1% in the year to the fourth quarter of 2024,…

South Africa maintained a trade surplus in the fourth quarter of 2024. At R64 billion, the surplus was more than double the surplus from the fourth quarter 2023, which amounted to R22 billion, in real terms. The surplus was also higher than the third quarter of 2024, which amounted to…

From Q3 2014 to Q3 2024 South Africa's imports and exports both trended upwards, with growth in exports outpacing growth in imports. In Q3 2024, exports are 22% higher than they were in Q3 2014, while imports are 3% higher. In addition, the quarterly average for exports (R459 billion in constant…

TIPS industry studies provide a comprehensive overview of key trends in leading industries in South Africa. They aim to provide background for policymakers and researchers, and to strengthen our understanding of current challenges and opportunities in each industry as a basis for a more strategic response. This study provides an…

IOL 4 April 2025 by Philippa Larkin

Read online at IOL

Daily Maverick 6 April 2025 by Tim Cohen

Read online at Daily Maverick

The Citizen 7 April 2025 by Ina Opperman

Read online at The Citizen

Business Day 7 April 2025

 Read online at Business Day

The State of Small Business in South Africa, a special edition of the Real Economy Bulletin, summarises the available information on the number of small businesses, in total and by industry and province; their contribution to the GDP and employment; ownership by race, gender and age; and access to skills and infrastructure. For the formal sector, it also reviews the available data on the sector’s investment and profitability. The analysis is primarily based on household surveys and financial data through 2024. Key findings The available (limited) data suggest that formal small businesses contributed 19% of GDP and 33% of employment…

The Import Localisation and Supply Chain Disruption study seeks to identify goods from the list of imports identified in the quarterly Import Trackers that South Africa could possibly viably manufacture. Each report focuses on five manufactured items from the list of imports in the corresponding Import Tracker quarterly reports. The five products for the Second Half 2024 are: Product 1: Self-propelled front-end shovel loaders not tracked, driven by internal combustion piston engines, of a mass of 3 000 kg or more but not exceeding 30 000 kg (excluding those specially designed for use in mines)Product 2: Crushing or grinding machines for…

TIPS industry studies aim to provide a comprehensive overview of key trends in leading industries in South Africa. They aim to provide background for policymakers and researchers, and to strengthen our understanding of current challenges and opportunities in each industry as a basis for a more strategic response. This study aims…

TIPS industry studies aim to provide a comprehensive overview of key trends in leading industries in South Africa. They aim to provide background for policymakers and researchers, and to strengthen our understanding of current challenges and opportunities in each industry as a basis for a more strategic response.   This…

Chere Monaisa joined TIPS in 2025 as part of the newly formed Just Transition Labour  Centre. Chere holds a Masters in Labour Policy and Globalisation from the Global  Labour University (University of the Witwatersrand). His research focused on  understanding the NUMSA’s evolving policies on the tole of renewable energy in South  Africa’s mineral energy complex. He has more than fifteen years’ experience using  evidence-based research to support advocacy, campaigns, and education about labour  and other socio-economic rights. He is comfortable working with people from various  backgrounds from travelling around the world (e.g., Botswana, USA, Germany, Brazil,  India) for work and…

Matthew (Lev) Grant is the Manager of the Just Transition Labour Centre. He graduated UCT with a Masters in Sociology and subsequently completed a Diploma in Occupational Health. He previously worked for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) as the National Health Co-ordinator and was previously the Research and Policy Co-ordinator for the South Africa Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU). He has also worked for a variety of labour service NGOs and in medical research, focusing on workers’ rights, occupational health and safety, and climate change.