The South African trade surplus halved in April to R15 billion from a revised R30 billion in March. The March surplus preliminary estimate was R32 billion.
The first quarter 2026 surplus of R74.6 billion was almost triple the first quarter 2025 surplus of R26 billion.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) said the April surplus was attributable to exports of R191.6 billion and imports of R175.4 billion.
Consequently, in the first four months of 2026, exports have risen by 8.0% year-on-year to R700.3 billion. In the same period, imports have edged up by 0.4% year-on-year to R611 billion.
Monthly changes
Specifically, on a month-on-month basis, exports increased by R3.4 billion or 1.8%. This was driven the value of precious metals, which soared by 30% to R52.7 billion.
Import rose by R18.5 billion or 11.8% to R156.0 billion. This was largely due to a surge in mineral products, which includes crude oil. There was a massive 76% jump in the value of mineral product imports to R48.6billion.
Regional split
Markedly, Asia was the highest export growth region in the first four months of 2026 with a 19.5% year-on-year gain. This was closely followed by Europe with a 15.9% year-on-year rise.
Surprisingly, despite the implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement in January 2021, exports to the rest of Africa fell by 7.3% in the first four months. In 2025 exports to this region decreased by 2.1%.
Country split
The top 5 countries South Africa exported to in April 2026 were: China (11.2% of total exports), Germany (8.4%), the US (7.5%), the UK (6.3%) and Japan (5.0%).
This was not much different from February when the order was China (10.8%), Germany (9.2%), the US (7.5%), the UK (5.5%) and Japan (4.9%). In January the order was China (13.6%), Germany (7.9%), the US (6.7%), the UK (5.9%) and the Netherlands (5.8%).
It shows that despite the strained diplomatic relations with the US, it remains South Africa’s third largest export destination.
The top 5 countries South Africa imported from in April 2026 were: China (21.2%), the US (10.6%), India (6.3%), Germany (5.7%), and Nigeria (5.0%).
The March order was China (22.0%), India (7.6%), Germany (7.5%), the US (5.4%) and Oman (3.7%).
The February order was China (25.4%), India (6.1%), Germany (6.1%), the US (6.0%) and Nigeria (3.6%).
The January order was China (23.5%), India (7.7%), Germany (6.6%), the US (6.1%) and Oman (3.1%).
Significantly, Nigeria replaced Oman before the Iran war started on 28 February 2026 and disrupted oil supplies. In March Oman was back in fifth spot. This is because Oman has a port that is south of the Strait of Hormuz. In April Nigeria once again displaced Oman.
