South Africa's manufacturing production growth slowed to 1 percent year-on-year in May 2019 from a downwardly revised 4.3 percent in the previous month and below market expectations of 1.4 percent. The largest positive contribution was made by the food and beverages division (6.7 percent), while wood and wood products, paper, publishing and printing division contracted sharply (-3.9 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, manufacturing output dropped 1.5 percent in May, reversing a 2.5 percent growth in April. Industrial Production in South Africa averaged 0.96 percent from 1974 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 18.50 percent in May of 1995 and a record low of -23.20 percent in April of 2009.
Industrial Production in South Africa is expected to be 1.30 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Industrial Production in South Africa to stand at 1.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Manufacturing Production is projected to trend around 1.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.