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Cape Town – A 10.8% increase in imports and a 21% decrease in exports resulted in South Africa recording a trade deficit of R25.49bn in January, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) announced on Monday.
The cumulative deficit for 2016 is almost 20% lower than in 2015, in which the country recorded a R30.49bn deficit.
The trade deficit of R25.49bn excludes trade with Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS). Including BLNS, South Africa recorded a
trade deficit of R17.87bn in January 2016, a 23.7% decrease on the
deficit recorded in January 2015 of R23.43bn.
January 2016’s data (excluding BLNS data) is up from R7.56bn in December (revised downward from R8.22bn) and from R683m in November.
The deficit is as a result of exports of R61.31bn and imports of R86.80bn, Sars said. “Exports decreased from December 2015 to January 2016 by R16.32bn (21.0%) and imports increased from December 2015 to January 2016 by R8.49bn (10.8%).”
Sectors that recorded lower exports included precious metals and stones (-41%), vehicles and transport equipment (-37%), chemical products (-26%) and prepared foodstuff (-37%).
Equipment components saw a 130% increase in imports, while base metals (32%), machinery & electronics (16%) and mineral products (17%) also showed an increase.
