Economy, employment, trade and industry data resources
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Economy and employment
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) publishes data and reports on economic growth and inflation, including for specific sectors such as agriculture as noted below.
Stats SA also publishes the Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
South African Reserve Bank (SARB) publishes statistics on various indicators, such as:
Economic and financial statistics on various South African sectors
Selected monthly data across a range of themes
At a subnational level, the provinces and cities publish their own data and reports, such as with eThekwini Municipality via the Durban EDGE portal.
The CSIR has developed a mesozone data set which divides South Africa into a complete grid of 25,000 spatial units of approximately the same size (~50km2). Mesozone data includes population, main economic sectors and employment.
National Trade and Industry Data Sources
Statistics South Africa publishes regular statistical reports using trade and industry data from various sources, such as:
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Mining production and sales
From its own surveys, for example: Manufacturing production and sales
In some cases you can download time series data used in these publications in Excel and ASCII format. Data stories related to Imports and Exports are available here.
South African Revenue Service (SARS) has Trade Statistics Dashboard where you can access data on trade by countries and by commodity, monthly imports and exports, and trade balances.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and related entities publish data on a variety of topics
DTIC Industrial Development provides research reports include statistical information on various industries.
Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has annual performance plan, procurement plans.
Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) and SEDA have annual reports of supportive provision to SMMEs.
SITA e-Services, it enables access to government services and datasets available online for all government organisations. You just have to register to access the dataset on this site.
International Trade and Industry Data Sources
Observatory on Economic Complexity (OEC) provides a detailed national and subnational aggregation and analysis of import and export data for South Africa. Specific tools include Trend Explorer, Tree Map, Stacked, Network, Map, and Scatter visualizations of annual and monthly import and export records that can be downloaded as CSV and image formats.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) promotes economic development through regional coordination of trade.
Trade Agreements provides customs agreements and status of trade agreements documents.
Research Reports of annual financial statements and economic performance of the SACU Member States.
Statistical Database provides dashboards that summarizes merchandise trade, economic indicators i.e. customer index and national accounts
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Comstat Hub provides dashboards to view various trade and industry-related data for the region
African Development Bank Group (ADBG) under it's Knowledge activities hosts:
Africa Information Highway is a network of live data platforms for all African countries and 16 regional organizations
Data Portal provides access to information on all AFDB projects. Includes project title and ID, country, sector, financial information, results and links to publicly disclosed documents
MapAfrica maps the geographic locations of AfDB’s investments in Africa
Statistics page including events and publications
International Trade Centre (ITC) provides various market information and analysis tools, such as:
Trade Map indicators on export performance, international demand, alternative markets and competitive markets, as well as a directory of importing and exporting companies in the form of tables, graphs and maps.
Market Access Map analytical portal that allows users to access, compare, analyse and download customs tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, trade remedies and non-tariff measures applicable to a specific good in any market in the world.
Investment Map helps Investment Promotion Agencies identify priority sectors and competing countries for foreign investments, as well as existing and potential foreign investors.
Trade Competitiveness provides the Trade Performance Index by Sector
Export Potential Map is a free tool that turns economic analysis into practical trade information.
Procurement Map provides detailed information for public tenders and contract awards.
Sustainability Map has information about voluntary sustainability standards, codes of conduct, audit protocols, reporting frameworks and company programs on sustainability.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is the part of the United Nations Secretariat dealing with trade, investment, and development issues
UNCTAD Stats provides statistics, trends, and reports on international trade
Investment Policy Hub lists South Africa's Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), Treaties with Investment Provisions (TIPs), Investment Related Instruments (IRIs).
UN Comtrade is a repository of official international trade statistics and relevant analytical tables. All data is accessible through API.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides data on industry and trade via OECD country page on South Africa which aggregates various economic and social indicators. More granular data is available on OECD.Stat.
World Bank Open Data allows for download of raw data on multiple economic indicators, as well as World Bank projects. Or you can use the DataBank analysis and visualisation tool.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides time series data for GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, payments balances, exports, imports, external debt, capital flows, commodity prices. Using these tools:
World Economic Outlook reports
Fiscal Monitor Latest Update reports
World Trade Organization (WTO) data platform provides downloadable data on international trade and foreign affiliates statistics available in Excel, CSV formats that is access via links and APIs.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) hosts the Africa UN Knowledge Hub portal that provides access to key UN data resources on COVID-19 including specialized datasets on how COVID-19 has impacted key areas of development on the continent.
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