The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for November 2011 that record a trade deficit of R8.0 billion.
Summary
The trade deficit for November 2011 is R8.0 billion (surplus of R8.4 billion for November 2010) compared to a deficit of R9.6 billion in October 2011, a month to month decrease of R1.6 billion. There was an increase in exports of R7.3 billion (11.9%) to R68.5 billion and an increase in imports of R5.7 billion (8.1%) to R76.5 billion.
The trade deficit of R8.0 billion in November 2011 revealed an increase in imports of mineral products, machinery and electrical appliances, vegetable products and vehicle, aircraft and vessels and decreased exports of vegetable products and vehicles, aircraft and vessels.
The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R21.3 billion compared to R5.3 billion in 2010.
Trade Highlights by Category
- The October to November change (up by 11.9%) in exports of goods reflected changes mainly in:
- precious and semi-precious stones and metals increased by R3 706 million (26%);
- products of the chemical or allied industries increased by R1 456 million (59%);
- base metals and articles thereof increased by R1 356 million (17%);
- mineral products increased by R 915 million (6%);
- vehicles, aircraft and vessels decreased by R 438 million (-7%) and
- vegetable products decreased by R 584 million (-31%).
- The October to November change (up by 8.1 %) in imports of goods reflected changes mainly in:
- mineral products increased by R3 077 million (21%);
- machinery and electrical appliances increased by R2 047 million (12%);
- vegetable products increased by R 704 million (52%);
- vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R 402 million (5%) and
- original equipment components decreased by R 390 million (-9%).
Trade Highlights by World Zone
- The world zone results for October and November 2011 as given below are unaudited.
- Asia: The deficit decreased from R 13.4 billion in October to R 11.4 billion in November 2011. Exports increased by R 2.4 billion to R 24.1bn and imports increased by R 0.4 billion to R 35.5 billion.
- Europe: The deficit increased from R 7.6 billion in October to R 8.8 billion in November 2011. Exports increased by R 0.8 billion to R 15.4 billion and imports increased by R 1.9 billion to R 24.2 billion.
- America: The deficit decreased from R 0.8 billion in October to R 0.4 billion in November 2011. Exports increased by R 0.5 billion to R 8.0 billion and imports increased by R 0.2 billion to R 8.4 billion.
- Africa: The surplus decreased from R 6.1bn in October to R 4.8 billion in November 2011. Exports increased by R 1.3 billion to R 11.5bn and imports increased by R 2.6bn to R 6.7 billion.
- Oceania The deficit increased from R 0.3 billion in October to R 1.0 billion in November 2011. Exports decreased by R 0.01 billion to R 0.7 billion and imports increased by R 0.7 billion to R 1.7 billion.
For more detail, visit our Trade Data webpage.
