Pretoria, 30 October 2020 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for September 2020 recording a trade surplus of R33.51 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The year-to-date (01 January to 30 September 2020) trade surplus of R167.45 billion is an improvement from the R0.48 billion surplus for the comparable period in 2019. Exports increased by 23.2% year-on-year whilst imports declined by 3.2% over the same period.
The R33.51 billion trade surplus for September 2020 is attributable to exports of R135.75 billion and imports of R102.24 billion. Exports increased by R5.83 billion (4.5%) between August and September 2020 and imports increased by R11.02 billion (12.1%) over the same period.
