According to the statistics from SARS, South Africa’s volume of goods trade was USD84.64 billion from January to July in 2016, down 15.9% year-on-year (the same below). Exports fell by 12.7% to USD42.98 billion, and imports fell by 19.0% to USD41.65 billion. The trade surplus was USD1.33 billion, down 160.2%.
In July, South Africa’s volume of goods trade fell by 14.7% to USD12.91 billion. Exports fell by 12.2% to USD6.63 billion and imports fell by 17.2% to USD6.28 billion. And the trade surplus was USD0.34 billion.
Since January to July, bilateral trade volume between South Africa and China fell by 19.7% to USD110.6 billion. South Africa’s exports to China fell by 23.1% to USD3.64 billion. It accounted for 8.5% of South Africa’s overall export, down 1.1%. And South Africa’s imports from China fell by 18.0% to USD7.41 billion. It accounted for 17.8% of South Africa’s overall imports, up 0.2% over the previous year. South Africa’s trade deficit with China fell by 12.3% to USD3.77 billion.
As the biggest partner, China was the second largest export market of South Africa and its largest source of imports up to July in 2016.