Pretoria, 31 March 2022 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for February 2022 recording a preliminary trade balance surplus of R10.60 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The year-to-date (01 January to 28 February 2022) preliminary trade balance surplus of R14.67 billion is a deterioration from the R45.21 billion trade balance surplus for the comparable period in 2021. Exports increased by 7.3% year-on-year whilst imports increased by 31.4% over the same period.
The R10.60 billion preliminary trade balance surplus for February 2022 is attributable to exports of R141.15 billion and imports of R130.55 billion. Exports increased by R10.51 billion (8.0%) between January and February 2022 and imports increased by R3.98 billion (3.1%) over the same period.
