South Africa’s private sector activity contracted at the fastest pace in eleven months in December, mainly due to weak demand conditions, survey results from S&P Global showed Tuesday.
The purchasing managers’ index for the private sector economy dropped to 47.7 in December from 49.0 in November. Any score below 50.0 indicates contraction.
The downturn in business activity at the end of the fourth quarter was attributed to challenging economic conditions and weaker client demand.
New orders declined at the sharpest pace since March 2024 amid a lack of spending from households, pullbacks in business orders, and lower sales from international clients.
Companies reduced their purchasing activity, while workforce numbers rose for the third successive month, though marginally.
On the price front, cost pressures eased in December, typically due to a further improvement in the exchange rate with the US dollar. As a result, there was only a softer increase in output charges.
Looking ahead, companies expect a robust upturn in business activity for the next 12 months, as they are hopeful of a pickup in both economic conditions and client sales, whilst also highlighting new projects as a reason to be confident.
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