The EasyData Monthly - April 2015

Industry Service

South Africa Standardised Industry – 2014
The South Africa Standardised Industry data set has been updated for 2014.

Rebased Official Statistics
The South Africa Standardised Industry data sets and accompanying forecasts have been rebased from 2005 to 2010 to reflect changes in the official statistics released by the SARB and StatsSA.

Did You Know?
The South Africa Standardised Industry data set includes detailed capital (gross fixed capital formation, fixed capital stock and consumption of fixed capital) data on a 46, 25 and 12-industry level.

Regional Service

Private Sector Building Statistics for 2013 (110 local municipalities) (Found in Miscellaneous Regional data sets)
Did you know? – This survey is used to monitor the state of the economy, to formulate economic policy, to estimate GDP and for calculating the composite leading business cycle indicator.

National Quarterly Employment Statistics for 2014Q4 (Found in Miscellaneous Regional data sets)
Did you know? – As of June 2013 the sample containing VAT-registered enterprises, is enhanced by additional sources like PAYE and UIF contributors. This results in an apparent higher employment level (approx. 0.5 million) from June 2013 than previous series.

Tax Statistics for 2014 (234 local municipalities)
Did you know? – Modernised systems and expanded use of Personal Income Tax data offer significant insights into demographics of individuals.

Births for 2013 (531 magisterial districts) (Found in Miscellaneous Regional data sets)
Did you know? – Birth year and registration year are not always the same, as parents can delay registering their child’s birth by months or even years.

Causes of Death for 2013 (9 provinces) (Found in Miscellaneous Regional data sets)

International Trade Service

South African Imports & Exports – February 2015
Total South African imports and exports of all commodities for the month of February 2015 are R82,901,491,265 (up 3.68% Feb'14 vs Feb'15) and R64,388,104,068 (down -9.73% Feb'14 vs Feb'15) respectively.

Did you know?
The EasyData International Trade Service includes monthly South African import and export trade with 260 countries and regions (starting January 1988), based on more than 26,000 commodities (Harmonised System and SIC classification). The HS 8-digit database includes over 25 million data points.

Macroeconomic Service

DAFF Abstract of Agricultural Statistics 2015

Quantec South Africa Economic Review & Forecast (Quarterly Report & Data) – April 2015
GDP growth could be dragged down by a bigger import bill in view of the much weaker rand and possibly higher imports of capital goods and equipment. Growth in GDP during this year is expected to average 1.7% which will only be marginally higher than 2014’s 1.5% growth.

Quantec South Africa Money and Credit Market Trends & Forecasts (Quarterly Report) – April 2015
Money-market rates moved higher throughout 2014, with the 12m JIBAR rising from 6% in January to 7.4% at the end of December. This rise was considerably steeper than the 75 basis points increase in the repo rate and mainly attributable to a deterioration in inflation expectations during mid-2014, exacerbated by the steep decline in the exchange rate of the rand.

Quantec South Africa Household Sector (Quarterly Report) – April 2015
Services remained the biggest component at 42.5% in the third quarter of 2014. Growth in durable goods expenditure (consisting mainly of vehicles, furniture, equipment and appliances), rose from 8.4% of total HCE in 2009 to around 10.5% in 2014. It would appear as though the interest increases—although fairly small—have served to curtail the strong rate of growth in this component, which averaged 9% in 2013, by about half the rate in 2014.

Quantec South Africa Fixed Capital Formation and Stock (Quarterly Report) – April 2015
General government’s real gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) grew by 5.9% (seasonally adjusted annualised rate—saar) in the fourth quarter of 2014 while public corporations’ capital formation registered and increase of 2.5% q/q saar. This meant that total public sector real GFCF was 4.1% higher in the fourth quarter which was down on the 4.7% growth recorded in the previous quarter. Capital formation by private business enterprises again grew much slower than public sector investment in the fourth quarter, rising by 1.7% (saar) bringing the growth in total private sector investment to -3.4% in 2014.

Quantec South Africa Fiscal Trends (Quarterly Report) – April 2015
National government expenditure as a percentage of GDP, averaged around 24% during the period 2000-2007. However, this ratio increased to 28% in 2009/2010 and has since risen even higher to just shy of 29% of GDP in 2014. Government claims that most of this change is because of its counter-cyclical stance in the aftermath of the global recession, and that they again intend reigning in expenditure as a ratio of GDP.

Quantec South Africa Bond Market (Quarterly Report) – April 2015
Bond yields have generally drifted lower between mid-2014 and the first quarter of 2015, with the ALBI return spiking at 21% in January this year. However, ratings agencies have mostly downgraded the credit risk ratings of SA bonds. Bigger counter-cyclical and infrastructure spending by government over the next few years will mean further pressure on the borrowing requirement as a percentage of GDP, which could spell a negative impact on bond returns.

Quantec South Africa Foreign Exchange Market (Monthly Report) – April 2015

Quantec South Africa Foreign Merchandise Trade (Monthly Report) – April 2015

Quantec South Africa Equity Market (Monthly Report) – April 2015

Quantec South Africa Economic Indicators (Monthly Report) – April 2015

Share this article on