Absa Manufacturing Survey

Inflation expectations
Manufacturing
Retail
Other services
Building and construction

Absa Manufacturing Survey

The Absa Manufacturing Survey is a brisk quarterly report on the results and implications of the latest BER survey of manufacturing firms. Released in advance of official indicators of activity, it provides reliable and up-to-date information on current trends and valuable perspectives on the outlook for the sector.

Apart from business confidence, the survey data highlights current and expected trends in business conditions, domestic as well as export sales volumes, production volumes, the number of factory workers, input costs and selling prices, fixed investment and stock levels.

The survey covers the various important manufacturing subsectors as well as the main provinces (Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng).

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Manufacturing Survey, 2023Q1

Date Uploaded: March 22 2023 09:00


The South African manufacturing sector experienced a tumultuous 2022, with numerous shocks and load-shedding keeping the sector from generating any real recovery momentum. The latest Absa Manufacturing Survey results suggest that the sector continued to struggle in the first quarter of 2023. Business confidence among manufacturers fell by a significant 9 points to 17 in 2023Q1.