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South Africa saw a preliminary trade balance surplus of R16.0 billion in July 2023, data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) shows.
SARS said that this surplus was due to exports of R174.0 billion and imports of R158.0 billion, including trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN).
However, the year-to-date preliminary trade balance surplus of R19.5 billion is a massive decline from the R154.6 billion trade balance surplus for the same period in 2022.
Export flows for July 2023 were 1.2% lower than the R176.2 billion seen in July 2022, while import flows increased 4% from R152.0 billion in July 2022 to R158.0 billion in the current period.
Exports between June and July 2023 rose by 4.6% from R166.3 billion to R174.0 billion, whilst imports decreased 7.6% from R171.1 billion to R158.0 billion over the same period.
SARS said that the export flows increase was driven by Vehicles (Goods), Gold and Petroleum Oils (Excl. Crude).
Whereas the value of imports declined due to large decreases in the importation of Petroleum Oils (Excl. Crude), Electric Accumulators, and Electrical Transformers, Static Converters and Inductors.
Due to ongoing Voichers of Corrections, the June 2023 preliminary trade was revised downwards from R3.5 billion to R4.7 billion.
According to SARS, China was South Africa’s biggest trading partner in exports and imports.
The top five export markets for South Africa were as follows:
- China (8.9%)
- Germany (8.0%)
- United States (7.6%)
- Mozambique (5.6%)
- Japan (5.0%)
Whereas, the top five countries where South Africa imported from were:
- China (21.5%)
- United States (9.7%)
- Germany (8.3%)
- India (5.7%)
- Thailand (3.5%)
Excluding neighbours
When trade with BELN is excluded, South Africa’s trade with the rest of the world for July 2023 sees a preliminary trade balance surplus of R5.3 billion.
This was due to imports of R152.6 billion and exports of R157.9 billion, with exports increasing by R7.6 billion and imports decreasing by R13.6 billion from June to July.
However, the preliminary trade balance without BELN for 2023 stands at a deficit of R51.1 billion, compared to the R87.1 billion trade surplus in 2022.
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