Import Tracker Q2 2024

South Africa had a trade surplus of R54 billion in the second quarter of 2024, up from R9 billion in the second quarter of 2023, but lower than the R79 billion surplus recorded in the second quarter of 2022. Both imports and exports declined in the year to the second quarter of 2024, with imports falling from R531 billion to R465 billion, while exports declined from R540 billion to R519 billion. Imports were on an upward trajectory between the second quarters of 2020 and 2023 due to increases in imports of diesel, petrol and other petroleum products, and declined in the second quarter of 2024 as imports of these products declined. In this same period, exports have been on a downward trajectory, largely due to a decline in mineral prices (South Africa’s main export group).