Statistics South Africa has raised its estimate of the country’s economy in 2022 by R324 billion. The new figure is 4.9% higher than the old one, the agency reported.
Stats SA said GDP at current prices stood at R7 trillion in 2022. The previous estimate was R6.7 trillion.
The agency also raised its estimate for 2025 by 5.3%. The economy for that year now stands at R8.044 trillion, up from R7.642 trillion.
The new numbers do not mean South Africa suddenly produced more goods and services. They give an updated estimate of activity that was already taking place, The South African reported.
Mining had the largest rise in its share of the economy, with its weighting up by 12.5%. Stats SA said this was mainly because it now covers illegal mining better. That activity has grown as gold prices have risen, the report said.
The agency also added estimates for other activity that it had not measured well before. These include illegal gambling and e-hailing services.
Informal, illicit and illegal activities that normal data collection does not fully capture are known as the non-observed economy. This part made up 8.7% of total economic activity in 2022, or R551 billion. The earlier estimate of its share was 7.3%.
Earlier updates by Stats SA had already added informal traders, shebeens, informal recycling and subsistence agriculture to this part of the economy.
Finance, real estate and business services had the second-largest rise in weighting, at 9.1%. The finance industry added R127 billion of the R324 billion increase. The report said this was mostly due to a change in how Stats SA measures rent for owner-occupied homes.
Trade and mining each added another R61 billion to the revision.
On the spending side, household consumption was the largest contributor. Stats SA said this came from adding data from its Income and Expenditure Survey. It also pointed to better measurement of owner-occupied rent and the non-observed economy.
Stats SA said rebasing and benchmarking exercises are usually done every five years, in line with international best practice. The latest one moves the base year for GDP in volume terms from 2015 to 2022. It also uses new information from Stats SA surveys and other sources.
The report said the bigger estimate does not automatically mean households are wealthier or that living standards have improved. GDP measures production, not how income is shared among households.
The new figures also do not show on their own that economic growth has sped up, the report said. They reflect changes in how economic activity is measured and estimated.
Stats SA has published further details in its report on the benchmarked and rebased GDP estimates for 2026.
Source: this article is based on reporting by The South African. Image: The South African. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.