South Africa Trade Surplus Narrows in March

South Africa's trade surplus narrowed to ZAR 15.2 billion in April 2026 from a downwardly revised ZAR 30.2 billion in the previous month, as a sharp rise in imports outpaced export growth. Imports soared 11.8% to ZAR 175 billion, largely due to a 76% jump in purchases of mineral products, alongside a 5% increase in machinery & electronics. Conversely, declines were seen for precious metals & stones (-21%); textiles (-17%) and original equipment components (-10%). Meanwhile, exports rose 1.8% to ZAR 191 billion, driven by a 30% surge in precious metals and stones, which offset weaker shipments of vegetable products (-15%), chemicals (-14%), mineral products (-5%) and transport equipment (-5%).

South Africa's trade surplus shrank to ZAR 31.9 billion in March 2026 from a downwardly revised ZAR 35.9 billion in the prior month, as imports were stronger than exports. Purchases climbed by 18.4% month-over-month to ZAR 156 billion, driven by mineral products (11%); chemical products (20%); machinery & electronics (15%); vehicles & transport equipment (24%) and original equipment components (39%). Meanwhile, exports rose 12.1% to ZAR 188 billion, with higher sales of mineral products (29%), chemical products (28%), vehicles and transport equipment (17%), and machinery and electronics (16%), offsetting a 7% decline in base metals.

South Africa recorded a trade surplus of ZAR 36.9 billion in February 2026, significantly higher than the downwardly revised ZAR 8.5 billion posted in January. Exports climbed by 8.2% month-over-month to ZAR 168.1 billion, boosted by shipments of vehicles & transport equipment (+55%); machinery & electronics (+22%) and base metals (+16%). Overseas sales rose primarily to Oceania (+53.4%), the Americas (+33.1%) and Africa (+17.5%), but declined for Asia (-0.4%). Conversely, imports slipped by 10.7% to a four-year low of ZAR 131.2 billion, reflecting widespread declines across key categories. Purchases fell significantly for vehicles & transport equipment (-2.5%); base metals (-18%); machinery & electronics (-14%); chemical products (-10%) and original equipment components (-9%). Imports decreased mostly from the Americas (-22.5%), Europe (-18.5%) and Oceania (-17.3%), and, to a lesser extent, Asia (-5.9%) and Africa (-4.7%).