Global Courant 2023-05-02 12:45:58
According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), South Africa posted a provisional trade surplus of R6.9 billion in March 2023.
When trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN) is included, exports amounted to R192.2 billion while imports amounted to R185.3 billion.
However, SARS said that the preliminary trade deficit of R6.2 billion (January 01 to March 31, 2023) represents a huge drop from the surplus of R61.9 billion recorded during the same period in 2022.
The deficit from the start of the year is mainly due to a trade deficit of R22.7 billion recorded in January 2023, while a surplus of R10.7 billion was recorded in February – reduced from R16.1 billion due to the current correction vouchers .
March export flows of R192.2 billion were 3.2% higher than March 2022’s R186.3 billion.
Imports, on the other hand, grew from R141.5 billion in March 2022 to R185.3 billion in the current period, an increase of 30.9%.
On a monthly basis, exports grew by 26.9% (R40.8 billion) from R151.4 billion in February.
Imports also grew by R44.6 billion (31.7%) from the R140.7 billion recorded in February.
SARS said the increase in export flows in March was driven by gold, while the increase in the value of imports was due to higher imports of crude oil and petroleum.
Below are the top 5 export and import sections for February and March 2023:
China was South Africa’s largest trading partner in March, accounting for 10.5% of total exports and 18.5% of imports.
The United States (7.5%) was South Africa’s second largest export market, with Germany (6.5%), Japan (6.2%) and the Netherlands (4.8%) rounding out the top 5.
South Africa imported the second largest amount of goods from Germany (8.0%). The United States (7.6%), India (6.9%) and Nigeria (4.3%) were also among the top 5 countries from which South Africa imported.
Trade without BELN
Interestingly, when excluding trade with BELN for March 2023, South Africa registered a preliminary trade deficit of R5.3 billion.
In this case, export flows amounted to R174.7 billion while imports amounted to R180.0 billion.
The cumulative trade deficit for 2023 is R35.1 billion, compared to the trade balance surplus of R34.0 billion over the same period in 2022.
On a monthly basis, exports grew by R37.9 billion (27.7%), while imports grew by R44.4 billion (32.7%)
Read: SARS is after these wealthy taxpayers
