South Africa’s trade surplus widened to R20.5 billion in August as import values fell faster than exports, according to preliminary figures released by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Exports declined by 5.8% month on month to R181.8 billion while imports fell by 7.8% to R161.3 billion. The figures include trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia.
SARS attributed the export decline to lower exports of platinum group metals, gold and zinc ores and concentrates. The decrease in imports reflected lower purchases of petroleum oils excluding crude, original equipment components and automatic data processing machines.
July’s trade surplus was revised down from R20.1 billion to R18.0 billion following corrections to trade declarations.
Despite the monthly decline, August’s export value was 6.4% higher than a year earlier while imports were 4.2% lower.
The cumulative trade surplus for January to August reached R149.5 billion compared with R96.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
Regional figures showed that exports to Europe fell by 12.3% month on month to R42.0 billion while imports from the region rose by 1.7% to R44.7 billion. This resulted in a R2.8 billion trade deficit with Europe.
Exports to Asia declined by 7.7% to R55.1 billion while imports fell by 11.8% to R80.4 billion.
Trade with Africa showed a different pattern. Imports from the continent increased by 10.8% to R19.1 billion while exports declined by 2.5% to R47.9 billion. These figures include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia.
Excluding those four countries, South Africa recorded an overall trade surplus of R10.2 billion in August with exports of R165.2 billion and imports of R155.0 billion.
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