Insights

Tourism

When is Tourism Month in South Africa?

Tourism arrivals

2026January–July

Hover or tap a bubble

Original published Tourism map figures for 2026. January–July.
Country or source category	Tourist arrivals
Algeria	650
Angola	22 875
Argentina	6 128
Ascension	Not reported
Australia	68 748
Austria	13 370
Bangladesh	4 345
Belgium	29 106
Benin	895
Botswana	215 663
Brazil	44 025
Burkina Faso	451
Burundi	765
Cameroon	2 734
Canada	35 528
Canary Isles	Not reported
Cape Verde	Not reported
Cape Verde Island	174
Cape Verde Islands	Not reported
Central African Republic	75
Chad	306
Chile	2 776
China	18 031
Colombia	Not reported
Comoros	116
Congo	740
Côte d’Ivoire	168
Cote D'Ivoire	Not reported
Côte D'Ivoire	1 176
Cuba	Not reported
Cyprus	Not reported
Denmark	8 893
Djibouti	36
DRC	20 407
Egypt	3 814
Equat Guinea	Not reported
Equatorial Guinea	112
Eritrea	202
Eswatini	526 303
Ethiopia	5 105
France	81 284
Gabon	2 480
Gambia	302
Germany	166 429
Ghana	23 400
Greece	Not reported
Guinea	481
Guinea-Bissau	41
Hong Kong	Not reported
India	29 525
Indonesia	Not reported
Iran	Not reported
Ireland	18 105
Israel	4 901
Italy	25 921
Japan	12 611
Jordan	225
Kazakhstan	Not reported
Kenya	32 067
Korea	Not reported
Kuwait	Not reported
Lebanon	521
Lesotho	958 162
Liberia	357
Libya	241
Madagascar	2 572
Madeira Islands	Not reported
Malawi	139 184
Malaysia	3 815
Mali	664
Mauritania	170
Mauritius	11 040
Mexico	Not reported
Morocco	1 125
Mozambique	1 502 882
Namibia	93 799
Nepal	Not reported
New Zealand	11 296
Niger	158
Nigeria	15 858
Norway	2 177
Note that the August	Not reported
Note that the September	Not reported
Other	81 118
Others	Not reported
Pakistan	11 107
Peru	Not reported
Philippines	3 537
Poland	4 142
Portugal	10 629
Qatar	Not reported
Reunion	Not reported
Réunion	22
Russian Federation	25 292
Rwanda	531
Saint Helena	3
Sao Tome and Principe	Not reported
São Tomé and Príncipe	78
Saudi Arabia	14 296
Senegal	910
Seychelles	2 484
Sierra Leone	293
Singapore	6 932
Somalia	467
South Korea	7 634
South Sudan	347
Spain	13 977
Sri Lanka	Not reported
Swaziland	Not reported
Sweden	13 147
Switzerland	27 713
Syria	Not reported
Taiwan	888
Tanzania	25 771
Thailand	3 113
The Netherlands	84 002
The Sudan	547
Togo	281
Tristan Da Cunha	Not reported
Tunisia	2 048
Turkey	8 381
Uganda	7 495
UK	234 620
Ukraine	Not reported
United Arab Emirates	6 168
USA	225 287
Vietnam	Not reported
Western Africa	Not reported
Western Sahara	9
Zambia	105 088
Zimbabwe	1 466 247

September is officially Tourism Month, but Stats SA’s data points to December and January as the peak months for foreign arrivals. The numbers also challenge familiar assumptions about who visits South Africa: Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho are its largest sources of tourists, ahead of the traditional overseas markets. With “holiday” visits including trips to see friends and family, shopping and other personal reasons, the headline figures capture much more than leisure travel. Pieter Massyn explores how regional movement, road access and overseas arrivals shape the statistics — and what they reveal about tourism’s place in southern Africa’s social and economic life.

Pieter Massyn3 September 2026

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Economics

Inflation measurement – A basket case

Amnon’s inflation basket breakdown

Price index · January 2023 = 100 · to January 2026

Select an item

Amnon’s basket

Jan 2023R222.13Jan 2026R267.23

+20%change over full period

Monthly price indices, January 2023 = 100
Month	Kit Kat	Whole Nut	Carrier bag	Soap	Lay’s chips	Corn Flakes	Brown bread	Eggs	Amnon’s basket
2023-01-04	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
2023-02-04	100	100	108	102	102	104	102	100	102
2023-03-05	100	100	115	113	105	107	103	100	104
2023-04-03	112	100	115	113	105	107	103	100	106
2023-05-03	112	100	115	113	105	109	103	100	106
2023-06-08	112	109	115	113	105	107	103	100	107
2023-07-04	115	109	115	113	105	108	106	100	108
2023-08-04	118	109	115	113	105	109	110	100	109
2023-09-07	118	106	115	113	105	109	110	100	109
2023-10-07	118	106	115	119	105	108	110	102	109
2023-11-13	118	106	115	119	105	107	110	104	109
2023-12-06	118	106	115	119	105	107	110	107	109
2024-01-03	129	106	115	119	105	101	110	96	108
2024-02-02	129	106	115	119	105	109	110	107	112
2024-03-04	129	117	115	119	109	109	110	107	114
2024-04-03	118	117	120	119	109	109	110	107	112
2024-05-03	121	114	120	119	109	109	110	107	112
2024-06-05	141	117	120	119	109	72	110	107	105
2024-07-04	141	117	120	119	109	101	110	107	114
2024-08-07	118	131	120	119	109	101	116	107	113
2024-09-06	141	129	120	119	105	101	116	107	115
2024-10-06	141	129	120	119	105	101	99	107	114
2024-11-06	141	123	120	87	105	101	99	107	111
2024-12-05	141	123	120	119	105	101	87	107	112
2025-01-03	141	123	120	87	109	101	99	107	111
2025-02-03	141	129	120	75	105	101	116	107	112
2025-03-04	141	129	120	75	114	109	99	107	114
2025-04-02	141	129	120	119	114	109	99	107	117
2025-05-03	141	129	130	119	114	109	99	107	117
2025-06-12	141	129	130	87	105	109	99	107	114
2025-07-09	147	143	130	87	114	109	99	107	118
2025-08-07	147	134	130	119	109	109	99	114	119
2025-09-02	147	134	130	119	109	109	99	114	119
2025-10-06	156	134	130	119	109	109	105	114	121
2025-11-03	156	134	130	75	109	109	105	104	117
2025-12-03	156	134	130	125	109	109	105	104	120
2026-01-07	156	134	130	125	109	109	105	104	120

Source: Amnon’s monthly basket

My husband Amnon, ever the statistician, has been tracking his own food inflation for over three years now. He happens to consume a very narrow range of products, making this a feasible task.

Illana Melzer23 June 2026

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Education

Degrees of Change: A Closer Look At Students Graduating from South African Universities

South African university graduates

Annual graduates · top 10 universities · 2008–2023

2023

Graduates by university and year, original published figures
University	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
North West University	12337	13445	15083	15092	14669	15464	15254	15597	17510	16004	15350	14961	15454	14484	13734	12356
University of Cape Town	5491	5874	6169	6528	6736	7001	6989	7240	7606	7222	7372	7487	7312	7070	7016	7364
University of Johannesburg	10310	10367	10284	11229	11410	11576	12334	12149	12865	13004	13724	14099	13035	12998	12128	13506
University of KwaZulu-Natal	7877	8110	7581	8857	9488	10019	9392	10037	10165	11146	11668	11895	12171	10924	10904	8934
University of Pretoria	12401	12922	13700	13473	13401	14172	12722	13441	13499	13273	13292	12651	12852	13583	13528	14284
University of South Africa	17923	22675	26073	26808	26210	34934	37896	40046	43285	44842	56633	48906	64423	54677	54273	56549
University of Stellenbosch	5978	6766	7237	7176	7681	7529	7570	7816	8208	8931	8899	8973	9080	8671	8451	8747
University of the Free State	5113	5379	5543	5843	6473	6726	6921	6866	6819	7978	8271	8606	9667	10531	10015	9138
University of Witwatersrand	5457	5510	6344	6708	6809	7173	7663	7761	8597	9123	9632	9956	10263	10169	10374	10359
Walter Sisulu University	3539	3535	3551	4833	4826	4846	4942	5027	5735	5972	7130	7024	8207	8670	8204	6037

Source: HEMIS

Our previous analysis on graduate unemployment found that young black female graduates face significantly higher unemployment rates compared to other segments of graduates. It is estimated that unemployment rates for young black females are nearly ten times higher than their white male counterparts. One possible explanation is that the labour market rewards some universities and fields…

Pieter Massyn15 May 2026

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Financial services

A Snap Scan of Digital Payments in South Africa

Are EFTs actually declining?

Monthly transactions, millions · EFT figures exclude PayShap

EFTsCredit cards

Are EFTs actually declining? · Monthly transactions, millions · EFT figures exclude PayShap
Date	EFTs	Credit cards
2010-01	62.802	23.129
2010-02	66.637	22.063
2010-03	74.274	24.452
2010-04	70.889	23.417
2010-05	69.086	23.726
2010-06	69.995	24.09
2010-07	72.743	24.186
2010-08	69.799	24.601
2010-09	71.35	24.625
2010-10	70.709	24.655
2010-11	75.564	25.87
2010-12	76.249	28.269
2011-01	68.234	24.567
2011-02	71.649	22.809
2011-03	77.076	27.222
2011-04	73.504	26.082
2011-05	75.451	26.146
2011-06	76.41	25.778
2011-07	74.895	26.219
2011-08	79.323	27.51
2011-09	80.867	26.508
2011-10	77.349	27.234
2011-11	79.763	26.738
2011-12	82.505	30.573
2012-01	74.505	27.763
2012-02	78.667	26.176
2012-03	83.425	28.334
2012-04	77.653	27.305
2012-05	82.502	29.379
2012-06	82.393	29.442
2012-07	82.363	29.071
2012-08	86.745	29.131
2012-09	78.769	27.09
2012-10	87.235	30.39
2012-11	87.482	33.09
2012-12	85.025	37.642
2013-01	81.5	32.824
2013-02	81.706	29.547
2013-03	84.172	32.114
2013-04	85.714	32.571
2013-05	86.948	33.61
2013-06	79.191	31.527
2013-07	88.953	33.683
2013-08	87.986	32.664
2013-09	84.34	31.793
2013-10	89.053	36.757
2013-11	88.861	36.702
2013-12	87.894	39.97
2014-01	84.788	38.304
2014-02	84.813	35.021
2014-03	87.892	38.026
2014-04	89.026	38.891
2014-05	89.449	38.791
2014-06	85.37	37.543
2014-07	89.813	39.643
2014-08	86.838	38.259
2014-09	90.331	39.489
2014-10	94.231	39.944
2014-11	86.748	37.752
2014-12	94.97	42.78
2015-01	85.932	36.925
2015-02	83.319	35.456
2015-03	88.64	38.158
2015-04	88.546	36.786
2015-05	84.391	43.117
2015-06	89.326	43.844
2015-07	92.407	44.249
2015-08	86.85	43.583
2015-09	88.526	44.091
2015-10	94.043	45.507
2015-11	87.901	44.16
2015-12	94.597	48.155
2016-01	82.305	42.848
2016-02	91.17	44.1
2016-03	92.277	46.608
2016-04	93.662	43.888
2016-05	90.011	45.982
2016-06	91.379	45.087
2016-07	91.236	45.598
2016-08	94.343	46.608
2016-09	94.998	46.591
2016-10	94.003	47.865
2016-11	94.575	48.971
2016-12	98.147	50.927
2017-01	87.632	45.294
2017-02	91.266	43.117
2017-03	99.892	47.498
2017-04	90.801	45.908
2017-05	98.166	50.413
2017-06	97.621	47.657
2017-07	97.027	48.998
2017-08	99.966	50.466
2017-09	96.888	49.18
2017-10	100.452	50.809
2017-11	103.631	52.204
2017-12	104.039	53.375
2018-01	95.309	50.528
2018-02	102.456	46.601
2018-03	107.687	50.539
2018-04	104.121	49.203
2018-05	114.818	52.79
2018-06	117.249	52.524
2018-07	117.456	51.655
2018-08	121.91	52.497
2018-09	113.754	50.622
2018-10	124.807	55.741
2018-11	123.09	55.039
2018-12	121.892	56.913
2019-01	105.409	52.679
2019-02	131.836	49.521
2019-03	135.101	53.745
2019-04	163.398	54.736
2019-05	136.926	55.008
2019-06	104.481	52.863
2019-07	139.783	58.592
2019-08	164.987	57.59
2019-09	107.753	56.351
2019-10	139.948	60.996
2019-11	164.764	60.974
2019-12	140.303	62.642
2020-01	133.218	57.916
2020-02	136.671	56.154
2020-03	137.869	55.414
2020-04	100.234	22.028
2020-05	127.965	33.81
2020-06	139.517	41.198
2020-07	150.972	43.77
2020-08	138.567	45.966
2020-09	143.952	50.229
2020-10	165.556	53.04
2020-11	151.307	53.167
2020-12	162.961	57.612
2021-01	140.783	45.689
2021-02	138.681	47.963
2021-03	162.363	56.7
2021-04	165.229	53.065
2021-05	145.264	54.467
2021-06	146.774	53.761
2021-07	150.375	47.031
2021-08	148.678	53.992
2021-09	155.191	55.444
2021-10	182.437	57.265
2021-11	170.2	60.206
2021-12	176.475	59.949
2022-01	159.851	55.93
2022-02	162.657	53.361
2022-03	175.948	60.955
2022-04	152.491	57.283
2022-05	150.955	59.611
2022-06	160.482	57.747
2022-07	171.93	59.122
2022-08	165.36	62.64
2022-09	180.915	61.432
2022-10	193.054	62.801
2022-11	181.232	64.119
2022-12	181.785	68.055
2023-01	171.998	61.612
2023-02	170.128	57.026
2023-03	189.224	61.629
2023-04	173.926	59.699
2023-05	186.415	65.395
2023-06	182.279	62.104
2023-07	177.775	62.919
2023-08	197.137	64.833
2023-09	194.519	63.77
2023-10	193.04	73.292
2023-11	194.023	73.548
2023-12	202.452	76.848
2024-01	182.886	73.022
2024-02	191.577	69.78
2024-03	190.091	72.021
2024-04	194.985	71.168
2024-05	181.791	71.824
2024-06	172.625	69.084
2024-07	185.951	73.706
2024-08	182.663	71.222
2024-09	173.941	71.426
2024-10	182.119	76.87
2024-11	177.05	76.498
2024-12	173.557	83.049
2025-01	162.401	76.037
2025-02	164.368	69.907
2025-03	171.416	76.858
2025-04	166.943	76.341
2025-05	169.766	79.226
2025-06	163.001	75.592
2025-07	172.17	80.608
2025-08	167.845	78.399
2025-09	168.97	81.228
2025-10	174.797	83.273
2025-11	161.219	80.51
2025-12	174.108	92.386

Source: SARB · January 2010–December 2025

Various data sets give us an inkling into the pace at which payments in South Africa are digitising. In this blog we explore some of this data.

Illana Melzer27 March 2026

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Employment

A Degree Still Pays (Just Not Equally)

Young graduate unemployment

Under 35 · narrow unemployment rate · 2019–2025

Black womenBlack menWhite womenWhite menAll young graduates

Young graduate unemployment · Under 35 · narrow unemployment rate · 2019–2025
Date	Black women	Black men	White women	White men	All young graduates
2019	24	24	2	5	16
2020	30	26	4	4	19
2021	35	27	6	2	22
2022	26	27	4	4	21
2023	28	24	7	5	19
2024	30	26	5	3	20
2025	29	23	5	3	18

Source: Stats SA QLFS · published article figures

South Africa’s graduate population has transformed. But does a degree still pay off for everyone?

Luis Alejandro Aldana27 March 2026

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Education

South African University Student Debt Has Exploded

UKZN student debt and expected losses

Outstanding student fees and expected credit losses · R billions

Outstanding student debtExpected credit losses

UKZN student debt and expected losses · Outstanding student fees and expected credit losses · R billions
Date	Outstanding student debt	Expected credit losses
2013	0.778701372	0.335834865
2014	0.980155995	0.781367048
2015	1.169311	0.948886845
2016	1.382067874	1.115377802
2017	1.679261258	1.395047315
2018	1.559811781	1.247332884
2019	1.997801787	1.69767487
2020	2.400770707	2.081968013
2021	2.214885284	2.104790582
2022	2.227408232	2.079771551
2023	2.238435333	2.059482571
2024	2.227046	2.081392

Source: UKZN annual reports · 2013–2024

South Africa’s universities are carrying billions in student debt, with a large share now classified as unlikely to ever be recovered. The data suggests this is no longer just a collections problem, but a systemic funding gap that institutions may be understating.

Ryan Berelowitz23 February 2026

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Title deed backlog dashboard

Mapping South Africa’s title deed backlog

More insights

When is Tourism Month in South Africa?

Inflation measurement – A basket case

Amnon’s inflation basket breakdown

Degrees of Change: A Closer Look At Students Graduating from South African Universities

South African university graduates

A Snap Scan of Digital Payments in South Africa

Are EFTs actually declining?

A Degree Still Pays (Just Not Equally)

Young graduate unemployment

South African University Student Debt Has Exploded

UKZN student debt and expected losses