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).

Back to Documents

Manufacturing Survey, 2025Q1

Date Uploaded: March 18 2025 08:30


According to the latest Absa Manufacturing Survey, business confidence in the factory sector declined by 2 points to reach a level of 34 in 2025Q1. Despite the slight decline in confidence in Q1, this remains one of the highest confidence levels in the last three years. The subsector results were mixed, with almost a half-half split in subsectors gaining or losing confidence.