South Africa’s manufacturing production fell 4.3% in May compared with the same period in 2024, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) announced on Thursday, 9 July.
According to StatsSA’s Head of Industry Statistics, Nicolai Claassen, seven of the ten major manufacturing segments recorded negative performance during the month under review.
The food and beverages sector contracted 6.4%, contributing a reduction of 1.6 percentage points to the overall manufacturing output figure.
Claassen noted that the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products, and machinery sectors declined 5.6%, contributing a negative 1.3 percentage points to the aggregate result.
The wood and paper products, publishing and printing sectors posted a sharper contraction of 11%, representing a negative contribution of 1.0 percentage point to industrial output.
‘Three segments recorded year-on-year growth: petroleum products, chemicals, rubber and plastics; textiles and clothing; and electrical machinery,’ Claassen said.
However, he cautioned that these gains were insufficient to offset the losses recorded across the remaining industrial sectors.
On a monthly basis, and following seasonal adjustment, manufacturing production increased 1.1% in May compared with April.
That recovery followed a 2.6% decline in April, which itself came after a 1.1% rebound recorded in March.
StatsSA noted that complete data are available in the institution’s latest manufacturing production report.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/09/mundo/africa/africa-do-sul-producao-manufactureira-caiu-43-em-maio/
