Johannesburg - South Africa's trade deficit more than doubled to R16.3bn in August from a revised R6.82bn shortfall in July, data from the South African Revenue Service showed on Tuesday.
Economists had expected an R8bn gap, but the number is volatile and therefore hard to forecast.
Exports in August fell 9.6% to R77.24bn while imports were up 1.4% at R93.53bn.
The August data brings the cumulative deficit for the year to R70.74bn, compared with a R51.88bn gap over the same period in 2013.