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We take a look at article published by Statistics South Africa which shows public-sector capital expenditure has declined for the first time since 2010. A sign that government is trying to reign in spending.
We take a look at a few slides presented by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to parliament's standing committee on finances.

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We take a look at the latest electricity generated and available for distribution and find that independent power producers makes up 9% of total electricity generated in South Africa.
We take a look at JSE market statistics for the week ending 10 August and find that the total market cap of all shares listed on the JSE has been lower than 12 months ago for the last three weeks in a row.

​We take a look at JSE market statistics for the week ending 10 August and find that foreigners have been net sellers of JSE listed shares for 14 out of the last 17 trading weeks. 
We take a look at the latest JSE statistics and find that the overall All Share PE ratio is well above the long term average PE ratio of the JSE All Share Index.
We take a look at the share price performance of SASOL and Kumbo Iron Ore and compare their share price performance over time and find that the old saying of ïf you own one commodity share you own them all" does not hold true at all, as the behaviour of these two shares are not similar at all
We take a look at the latest QLFS data as published by Statistics South Africa and focus on the number of people employed in private households working as domestic workers, gardeners, pool cleaners, butlers, drivers etc. The current number is 1.296 million or one in around 8 households.
We take a look at the latest QLFS data as published by Statistics South Africa and focus on the amount of hours worked per week as reported by respondents. South Africans seem to have very long working days. Especially if one takes the commute to and from work into account.
We take a look at the latest national poverty lines (NPL) as published by Statistics South Africa and we wonder how anybody can survive on the money mentioned in the poverty lines.


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We take a look at the latest unemployment numbers published by Statistics South Africa and find that South Africa's unemployment rate is now sitting at 27.2% and 5 out of 9 of South Africa's provinces have unemployment rates higher than the national average.

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We take a look at a few graphics relating  to BRICS and ask whether South Africa should actually be part of it?
We take a look at the latest JSE market statistics and find that the total JSE market capital is now lower than it was a year ago, sitting at just over R14.5 trillion.
We take a look at the latest JSE market statistics and find that for the 13 out of the last 16 weeks foreigners have been net sellers of JSE listed shares.
We take a look at the value of goods leaving South Africa from various district/customs offices. And the customs office that contributes the most to total exports is Richards Bay Coal Terminal (shown in the picture above)
We take a look at the Baltic Dry Shipping index and compare it to South Africa's economic growth rate and find the two are closely correlated.
We take a look at trade between two of Africa's biggest economies, South Africa and Egypt. And we find South Africa has a very positive trade balance (exports - imports) with Egypt, but it stems largely from one product category it exports to Egypt, namely Mineral products.
We take a look at the share price performance of both Dis-chem and Clicks since Dis-chem's listing date. And while Dischem outperformed Clicks for the majority of the period since it's listing but recently it has seen a sharp decline in it's share price after its financial results while Clicks has seen a strong surge in its share price after its financial results. Mr Market now clearly favours Clicks above Dis-chem.
We take a look at  the South African net borrowing requirements as at March of each year and find that over the last 9 years government has become extremely dependent and debt to finance its expenditure programs. Sadly this is not a sustainable funding model over the long run and South Africans should be worried about government finances.
We take a look at South Africa's motor vehicle imports index and compare it to the exchange rate and the inflation rate of new vehicle sales and find that there is an element of "sticky prices" in new vehicles, with prices quick to rise but slow to decline.
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We take a look at the inbound and outbound tourism numbers between South Africa and Australia. And while Australia has a far smaller population than South Africa, the number of tourists from Australia coming to South Africa far surpassed the number of tourists from South Africa heading to Australia,
We take a look at the sentiment towards various countries currencies against the US dollar. The currencies include the South African Rand, Aussie Dollar, Turkish Lira, Mexican Peso, Chilean Peso and the Brazilian Real


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We take a look at the gross loans and advances issued by South African banks and find that the growth in loans and advances issued by South African banks have slowed down drastically over the last 12 months, with the last 8 months growing at rates a lot slower than the average of the last 3 years.
We take a look at the sentiment towards 6 different shares listed on the JSE. We map the sentiment over the last two years towards: MTN, Naspers (NPN), Steinhoff (SNH), British American Tobacco (BTI), FirstRand (FSR) and Taste (TAS).





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We take a look at the imports of South Africa and the United States of America and express it as a percentage of each country's local manufacturing sales in order to gauge the dependence of each country on imports. And South Africa is far more dependent on imports than the United States of America.
We take a look at the latest business cycle indicators published by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and wonders if these indicators serves any real purpose, and if it is used in discussions when setting monetary policy. We sure hope not as all these indicators do is provide contradicting and confusing results.

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We take a look at the ratio of imports into South Africa over the value of goods produced locally in order to determine how much of South Africa's consumption is produced locally and what percentage is satisfied by imports. 
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We take a look at the number of inbound tourists entering South Africa from the UK. And the numbers recorded in May 2081 is almost 6 000 less visitors than May 2017. And the lowest number recorded from Jan 2017. Is South Africa's high crime rate starting to scare tourists away?
We take a look at the latest results of the Food and beverages survey as published by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and find that after stripping out inflation the sector is earning less in real income now than it did a year ago.​
We take a look at the latest population estimates for South Africa and break it down per province. Gauteng has the highest population density (number of people living in a province per square kilometer), while the Northern Cape has the lowest population density of any of South Africa's provinces. 
We take a look at the average price of 1kg of beef rump over time  per province and find that 1kg rump is currently the most expensive in the Free State and its the cheapest in the province of North West

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Foreign investors have been net sellers of JSE listed shares for 11 out of the last 14 weeks, selling roughly R2billion more in JSE listed shares than what they are buying. But its not nearly as bad as it was the same time last year.
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We take a look at the contribution of various categories in the motor trade sales sector and their contribution to total spending in the sector. For every R100 spent in this sector in South Africa almost R28 goes to spending on fuel, while for every R100 spent R26.40 goes towards spending on new vehicles.
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We take a look at the contribution made by various shares to the South Africa's All Share Index and find that 20% of the J203 index is made up by Naspers. And the top 20 shares makes up 67% of total market capital
We take a look at South Africa's trade balance (Exports-Imports) with the rest of the world and compare it to the country's exchange rate performance. Is a stronger Rand better for our trade balance? 

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We take a look at the latest inflation rate published by Statistics South Africa on an interactive map and we find that the Western Cape has the highest inflation rate of any of South Africa's provinces (for the last 17 months in a row)​
We take a look at the total number of credit card transactions in South Africa each month, as well as the total Rand value spent on credit cards on a monthly basis in South Africa.
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We take a look at the total market capital of all shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and find that the total value of all shares listed on the JSE amounts to roughly R14.5trillion (or 3.5 times the size of South Africa's economy).

​We take a look at South Africa's mining production and sales numbers and track the contribution of various commodities to total mining sales, and find that gold mining has totally lost its shine in South Africa and has been declining in importance to total mining in South Africa since the 1980's
We take a look at the total volume and value of vehicles produced in South Africa over time and find that the volume of vehicles produced over the last 20 years has nearly doubled, while the value of vehicles produced has more than doubled over the last 20 years. Currently SA produces vehicles to the value of R11.7billion a month (after inflation adjustments)
We have updated our South African Economic history page showing the economic growth rates, as well as the average Rand-Dollar exchange rate per president of South Africa as well as per finance minster. GDP per capita per year has also been updated. More data coming soon.
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We take a look at South Africa's manufacturing structure and how this has changed over time. In 1998 Motor vehicles were SA's biggest manufacturing component, in 2008 it was basic iron and steel products, and in 2018 its Meat, fish, fruit etc. SA's manufacturing has undergone a lot of changes in the last 20 odd years.

​​We take a look at South Africa's money supply, specifically notes and coins in circulation and whether increased money supply in South Africa is leading to higher levels of inflation

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We take a look at South Africa's import and export prices and compare it to the Rand, and it shows the behaviour of import and export prices do not behave in the same way as the currency, making us wonder what the actual impact of the Rand is on import inflation and local inflation
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We take a look at South Africa's trade balance (difference between imports and exports) with all the countries that forms part of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). And South Africa has very favourable trade terms with the USA, but far less so with Mexico, with whom South Africa has a very negative trade balance. And this is largely due to machinery imports from Mexico into South Africa.
We take a look at South Africa's trade balance (difference between imports and exports) with the various countries of the Americas (North, Central and South America), and find that SA's trade with the USA is very favourable for SA, but SA's trade with it's BRICS partner Brazil is very unfavourable for South Africa and very beneficial to Brazil.
We take a look at South Africa's Electricity, water and gas industry based on 2016 data and a report published by Statistics South Africa, and find that less than one third of the employees in this industry are females and that net profit margins in electricity generation is paper thin.

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We take a look at South Africa's economic indicators and compare it to its African peers. In this new page we will update on ad hoc basis we take at the economic growth rates achieved and predicted growth rates from the IMF for various African countries including South Africa.
We take a look at the latest JSE market statistics and find that foreigners have been net sellers of JSE listed shares for 9 out of the last 12 weeks. But for 2018 they are still net buyers of around R16 billion in JSE listed shares, whereas in 2017 over the same time period they were net sellers of R70 billion
We take a look at the similarities of the economies of South Africa and Chile. The countries economic growth rates are fairly similar, exchange rate performance against the US dollar is very similar and commodities exported and imported are very similar.
We take a look at South Africa's crude oil imports from the start of 2018 up to end of May 2018 and find that three countries are responsible for supplying 89% of South Africa's crude so far in 2018. They are Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Angola.
We take a look at the performance of the South African Rand and various other emerging market currencies against the US dollar. And the Rand while not having a great time against the US dollar is not struggling nearly as much as the Turkish Lira
We take a look at the latest fuel prices hike in South Africa to send petrol prices to another record high, and we highlight just how much of the fuel price is made up by taxes, levies and margins
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Picture of a small coffee shop
We take a look at the profit margins and employee costs as a percentage of total costs of small companies in various industries for the first quarter of 2018. Interestingly the trade industry (wholesale, retail and motor trade) earns almost 34% of all profits earned my small companies during the first quarter of 2018.
We take a look at South African firms total turnover for the last quarter of 2017 and break it down per company size as well as breaking it down per industry and find that small firms are making a significant contribution to turnover in selected industries of the South African economy
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We take a look at South Africa's age distribution per race group living in South Africa and find that South Africa has a aging White population while Black/Africans and Coloureds have relatively younger populations compared to Whites and Indian/Asians
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A homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk

​We take a look at the poverty maps as published and calculated by Statistics South Africa, and while Gauteng has fewer incidences of poverty than the other provinces, when looking at the Gini coefficient the inequality in Gauteng is shown as being extreme. 
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Shipping vessel
We take a look at trade between the United States of America (USA) and South Africa and find that trade between the two countries has been very beneficial for South Africa, with it exporting far more to the USA than what they import from the USA. Perhaps a few tariffs slapped on by president Trump might change this skewed trade balance.
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Stock exchange board

​We take a look at the latest JSE market statistics and find that for the first time in 9 weeks foreigners were net buyers of JSE listed shares, breaking a 2 months streak where foreigners sold more in JSE listed shares than what they bought.
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Subjective poverty
We take a look at a report published by Statistics South Africa, relating to poverty and perceived poverty in South Africa, and its broken down by province, age group, sex and race.
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Shipping containers
We take a detailed look at trade between South Africa and the United Kingdom and provide detailed insights into what exactly South Africa exports to the UK and what they import from the UK.
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European Union flag waving
We updated our South African trade with the European Union page and based on the data so far for 2018, almost 50% of trade between South Africa and the EU are made up by Germany and the United Kingdom.
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Sandton Central Skyline. Picture: Oliver Karstel
We take a look at the community profile data for Gauteng, published by Statistics South Africa, based on the Community Survey that was conducted in 2016. Gauteng's population is dominated by females and foreigners 
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Taxi rank in South Africa
We take a look at the latest General Household Survey (GHS) results and what it says about household's transport usage. In particular the usage of minibus/taxi's and how it takes commuters to get to their place of work
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NYSE trading floor
Foreign investors still can't sell South African shares listed on the JSE fast enough. For the last 8 weeks foreigners have been net sellers of shares listed on the JSE totalling R27.8billion in net selling over the last 8 weeks.
We take a look at the latest formal sector employment numbers published by Statistics South Africa and find that if government employment is stripped out, the formal business private sector shed almost 12 000 jobs in the first quarter of 2018
We take a look at the latest food and beverages survey results published by Statistics South Africa, and while income from food sales in 2018 is up compared to 2017. Income from food sales is dominated by restaurants and coffee shops, with take-aways and fast foods being a distant 2nd place.
The latest General Households Survey (GHS) results show that one in three households in South African Metropolitan areas believe littering is a problem in their area.  
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The latest General Households Survey (GHS) results show that just almost 12% of school children walk more than 30 minutes to get to the closest school.
The latest General Households Survey (GHS) results show that just under 16% of South African households were involved in some form of agricultural activity during the last 12 months.
Ever wondered what the price per kilogram of individually quick frozen (IQF) chicken pieces you have at your braai cost in other provinces across South Africa? We take a look.
We take a look at the amount of coal burnt by ESKOM per year for the last 12 years and find the parastatal has been been slow to reduce its dependence on dirty power generation and to switch over to cleaner, renewable energy sources.

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Foreigners have been net sellers of JSE listed shares for the last 7 weeks in a row. Selling around 25.8 billion more in JSE listed shares than what they are buying. A clear sign that sentiment towards South Africa and emerging markets are fading away and so is investments in these markets.
We take a look at the latest inflation figures published by Statistics South Africa, and ask the question why is it that the Western Cape has had the highest rate of inflation of all provinces in South Africa for the last 16 months, and what the financial impact of this is on consumers in the Western Cape.
We take a look at the number of inbound tourists from the United States of America coming into South Africa each month. And find that the numbers over time has remained relatively flat. The South African government believes tourism is a high growth industry for South Africa.
We take a look at South Africa's top 20 export destinations for March 2018. And while China is South Africa's biggest exports destinations, there are a few surprises in the Top 20 such as Pakistant.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced the launch of new commemorative bank notes and R5 coins to celebrate the life of former president Nelson Mandela. Full press statement and pictures in the article itself. 
We take a look at South Africa's vehicle exports over the last couple of years, and find that while strong increases in vehicle exports were recorded in 2014-2015, it has flattened out since then and has remained relatively stable the lat couple of years
We take a look at the business confidence numbers published by the Bureau for economic research and their RMB/BER Business confidence index shows that South African business confidence has been below neutral/negative for the last 11 years. No wonder South Africa's economy is going nowhere slowly and unemployment remains persistently high.
We take a look at lesser known fund and asset manager Peregrine (PGR) and suspect this eagle will soar pretty soon, with a dividend yield of around 8% and a PE ratio of well below 10 and the fact that it is highly cash generative. 

Share price has been struggling in recent years but we suspect that will change pretty soon.
​We take a look at South Africa's fuel price history from January 2008 and find that South Africans are currently paying record fuel prices, largely due to excessive taxes levied on fuel. And this stems from the fact that government spends tax money collected inefficiently and of course large scale corruption within the state.
Wandile Sihlobo  takes a quick look at the fast food industry in South Africa. Sure makes for interesting reading
South African Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Angola. And worrying is the fact that the price per kilo has been increasing steadily in 2017
​We take a look at South Africa's gross fixed capital formation over the last 7 years and the link capital formation has with South Africa's economic growth rate. Weak growth leads to less confidence and less capital being invested, or is it less capital invested leading to weaker growth? Well it might be either, but the correlation is clear. They do behave in very similar fashion.
​We take a look at a few interesting facts and figures regarding South Africa's retail sector. And while we like to dig up interesting information for readers, in this case we give all the credit to Statistics South Africa
We take a look at crude oil imports into South Africa from January 2010 up to March 2018 and find that almost 38% of the value of crude oil being imported into South Africa comes from Saudi Arabia. In total South Africa has imported R942.7billion in crude from January 2010.
Famous Brands (FBR) margins declining, and so is their share price. Investors worried past growth wont be repeated in future as growth by acquisition strategy takes a massive knock after buying Gourmet Burger Kitchen in the UK and having it bleed millions.
We update our Economic Progress Index (EPI) for 2018, and find that "Ramaphoria" has had little to no effect in improving South Africa's economic fortunes. Note the 2018 data is preliminary and will be updated as more information becomes available.
We take a look at the average price per 330ml beer per province over time, and find that people in the Western Cape pays the most per 330ml beer. ​
 We take a look at the latest net sales/purchases of shares listed on the JSE by foreigners. Are they stocking up on SA stocks or are they dumping and running for the hills?
Public vs private sector earnings growth. Who is getting the bigger pay increases? Is it those working for private companies or those working for government? Results might surprise a few.
Agriculture/forestry and fishing, mining and manufacturing all assist in dragging down South Africa's first quarter of 2018 (Q1:2018) economic growth rate to a pathetic -2.2%. A lot of hard work for president Cyril Ramaphosa and Team SA.
​Currently the JSE All Share Index is trading well above its historical PE ratio, which leads us to believe it would be unwise from investors to expect stellar returns in the short run as the PE ratio moderates back down to its historical levels.
Is buying in bulk cheaper than buying regular quantities? Well we test this theory on a well known South African staple, Rice. And find it is a lot cheaper to buy rice in bulk than it is buying regular quantities
​We take a look at the average price of red wine per province over time. And it seems those in the Western Cape pays the most per 750ml bottle of red wine
We take a look at the performance of the South African Rand against the US Dollar and compare it to some of its emerging market peers such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Turkey. And find the Rand while no star performer, is certainly a lot better off than some of the other emerging market currencies.
We take a look at the latest trade balance figures for South Africa and find while 2017 was a very good year for South Africa's trade balance its still got a long way to go to eliminate the massive trade deficits accumulated during 2012-2015.
We take a look at the share price performance over the last 5 years of well known South African retail chain Woolworths and compare its share price returns with well known international department stores such as Macy's, Sears and Nordstrom
The page in which we laid down our budget predictions ahead of former finance minister Malusi Gigaba's maiden and last budget speech.
With land expropriation without compensation dominating local news and social media platforms we decided to take a look at the numbers provided by a Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in a Land Audit. Time to separate facts from fiction.
We take a look at MTN's latest subscriber numbers per region as well as the revenue earned per region.
We look at the latest economic growth figures per province and find that Gauteng is still by far the biggest contributing province to South Africa's economy, With KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape coming in a distant 2nd and third place.
We look at the relative size of various sectors in South Africa's economy,a dn find that primary industries makes up a small part while tertiary industries dominates South Africa's economy. Sadly primary industries such as agriculture are large scale employers in South Africa yet their importance in SA's economic is fairly insignificant.
We look at South Africa's trade with NAFTA countries for January 2018 and find president Trump might have a case for the import tariffs on steel as the US seems to be on the losing end of that trade, even with a small trading partner like South Africa.
​We investigate the old belief that the fortunes of the JSE (the listed company operating the stock exchange) is linked to the fortunes or performance of the markets.

​The results show that the JSE's performance is not tied to that of the market performance at all.
We take a look at the share price performance of TigerBrands, RCL Foods and Pioneer Foods since the announcement by government that the source of the Listeriosis outbreak is a Enterprise factory in Polokwane. TigerBrands owns the Enterprise Brand and Mr Market has been punishing its share price.
Our latest page is dedicated to providing readers with more detailed information regarding South Africa's manufacturing industry. It will be updated on a regular basis with new and interesting information.
We take a look at South African spending patterns from 2010 to 2017 based on South Africa's GDP by Expenditure Method data. And find South African consumer spending is all about Food and Non-alcoholic beverages, Transport and Housing.
​We take a look at what "Taylor's rule" suggests South African interest rates should be sitting at based on our economic growth rate, inflation numbers as well as production numbers.
​We take a look at the average price of white bread per province in South Africa over time. And find that Gauteng has the highest average bread prices, while the Eastern Cape has the lowest average white bread prices.
We take a look at the average Rand value of shares traded on the JSE per day as well as the average number of shares traded each day in the JSE. For March 2018 the average Rand value of shares traded on JSE amounted to overR23.4billion a day
We take a look at South Africa's inflation rates for the first three months of 2018 on a rosewheel chart and wonder why the Reserve Bank did not cut rates more than 25basis points at their last MPC meeting.
We take a look at the latest import and export inflation figures for South Africa and find that both import and export inflation levels are far of their highs reached in earlier years. ​