South Africa is sitting on an approximately R45.19 billion trade surplus for the months of January to May 2024, with the People’s Republic of China maintaining its top spot as the country’s largest trading partner.
These two continents are also where South Africa records its largest trade deficit and surplus respectively, with a R133.91 billion deficit from Asia and a R149.27 billion surplus from Africa.South Africa’s biggest trade deficit for is with China, with the country sitting with a R61.36 billion trade deficit. This is followed by Saudi Arabia , India and Nigeria .
The biggest trade surplus for 2024 thus far is from Mozambique, sitting at R42.30 billion. This is followed by the United Kingdom , Botswana and Zimbabwe .Source: SARS. Note: The “Ship/Aircraft” category only has data under exports and not under imports, hence it is left blank in the Imports table.South Africa’s largest export partners . Graphic: SARSLooking at the month of May 2024, South Africa recorded R158.3 billion in imports and R178.3 billion in exports .
Despite claiming to shield its own institutions and resources, state capture strained state finances and capacity, impacting efforts to localise production for infrastructure projects and causing crises in public infrastructure, particularly in electricity and rail services.