South Africa Factory Activity Falls in July

Manufacturing output in South Africa shrank by 0.7% year-on-year in July 2025, following a 1.9% rise in June and broadly in line with analysts’ forecast of a 0.6% decline. This ends a two-month streak of growth. The largest negative contributions came from the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products, and machinery division, which fell 3.3% and subtracted 0.7 percentage points, and the wood and wood products, paper, publishing, and printing division, which declined 1.8% and subtracted 0.2 percentage points. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, industrial output fell by 0.5% in July, after an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in June. Seasonally adjusted manufacturing production grew by 2.5% in the three months ended July 2025 compared with the previous three months.