JOHANNESBURG, Oct 29 – South Africa’s economy was 4.9% larger than previously reported after a benchmarking and rebasing exercise, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday, revising the measured size of the country’s gross domestic product.
The agency raised its estimate of nominal GDP in 2022 to 6.99 trillion rand ($420.19 billion), from the previously published 6.67 trillion rand. The revision reflects changes to the national accounts methodology, including a new base year and updated estimates of economic activity across formal and informal sectors.
Statistics South Africa changed the base year for its GDP estimates from 2015 to 2022 as part of the exercise. The updated framework also accounted for changes in the composition of the economy since the previous benchmark.
All 10 sectors tracked by the agency recorded higher output under the revised estimates. Mining, finance and trade registered the largest increases, partly because the updated calculations incorporated illicit or illegal activity in those industries.
The revisions also affected more recent economic estimates. South Africa’s nominal GDP for last year was revised to 8.04 trillion rand from 7.64 trillion rand.
GDP rebasing updates the reference year and underlying data used to measure economic activity. It can produce significant changes in the reported size and sectoral composition of an economy without indicating that additional economic activity occurred during the period being measured.
For South Africa, the revised figures provide an updated statistical baseline for assessing the relative contributions of different industries and tracking economic performance. They also affect comparisons with earlier GDP estimates and indicators expressed as a share of national output, including public debt and fiscal ratios.
