South Africa Building Permits Slip in August

Building plans approved in South Africa dropped by 4.3% from a year ago to around 8,906 million in August 2026, following a 4.1% rise in the prior month. It follows two consecutive monthly declines. Lower permits for non-residential buildings (-24% vs -5.5% in July) and residential buildings (-7.3% vs 12.1%) more than offset a 24.2% jump for additions & alterations.

Building plans approved in South Africa rose by 4.1% from a year ago to around 9,335 million in July 2026, following an upwardly revised 34.3% jump in the prior month. Permits increased further for residential buildings (12.2% vs 8% in June), but declined for both non-residential buildings (-5.5% vs 154.2%) and additions & alterations (-0.6% vs 10.8%).

Building plans approved in South Africa surged by 30.5% from a year ago to around 9,868 million in June 2026, following a revised 12.9% slump in the previous month. This was the strongest increase since January 2025, underpinned by a strong recovery in plans approved for non-residential buildings (136.7% vs -10.5% in May). Additional support came from residential buildings (7.8% vs -13%) and additions & alterations (8.9% vs -14.2%).