South Africa Business Confidence

Last Release

Dec 31, 2024

Actual

Units In

Points

Frequency

Quarterly

Next Release

Mar 06, 2025

Time to Release

3 Months 12 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
92 Sep 1980	5 Jun 2020	42.58 Points	1975-2024	Bureau for Economic Research (BER)

In South Africa, the BER Business Confidence Index covers 1,400 business people in the building sector, 1,400 in the trade sector and 1,000 in manufacturing. The survey assesses the level of optimism that senior executives in the companies have about current and expected developments regarding sales, orders, employment, inventories and selling prices. The index varies on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicates an extreme lack of confidence, 50 neutrality and 100 extreme confidence.

Latest Updates

The RMB/BER business confidence index in South Africa rose to 45 in Q4 2024, up from 38 in the previous three-month period. This was the third consecutive increase in business sentiment, which now puts the index at its highest since Q1 2022. Encouragingly, the rise in sentiment was driven by improved activity and better business conditions, supported by a stable electricity supply and political stability. All subsectors, except new vehicles, saw increases. The building contractors' sector surged by 10 points to 51 in the fourth quarter, while wholesale trade rose to 60 from 51. Manufacturing climbed to 36 from 28, and retail sector confidence improved to 54 from 45. “The further improvement in business confidence is very welcome and is testament to the impact of the gradual improvement on the reform front,” said RMB chief economist Isaah Mhlanga.