Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) estimated total turnover across the eight industries covered by its Quarterly Financial Statistics (QFS) at R3,871,077 million in the June 2026 quarter. That was 3.7 percent above the R3,733,064 million recorded in the first quarter. Turnover in the second quarter of 2025 was R3,579,556 million, making the annual nominal increase 8.1 percent. Published on September 30, the QFS result is not a measure of real, inflation-adjusted sales volume. It is an estimate of monetary turnover at current prices, and it is not the same statistic as South Africa’s real gross domestic product growth.

Quarter-on-quarter turnover increased in all eight covered industries, but at different rates. Electricity, gas and water supply rose 12.1 percent, while transport, storage and communication increased 8.5 percent. Construction gained 3.9 percent; real estate and other business services, 3.4 percent; trade, 3.3 percent; and manufacturing, 3.2 percent. Community, social and personal services rose 1.0 percent, while mining and quarrying gained 0.7 percent. These are nominal turnover changes, not measures of physical production or real value added. The release does not separate price changes from changes in activity, sales mix or timing, so the percentages should not be read as volume growth.

For the year-on-year comparison, transport, storage and communication led with a 21.5 percent increase in turnover. Mining and quarrying rose 20.1 percent and real estate and other business services 10.7 percent. Trade increased 5.7 percent, manufacturing 5.5 percent, construction 3.1 percent, community services 2.4 percent and electricity, gas and water 0.8 percent. The comparison shows a broad annual rise but also substantial differences across industries. Quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year rates use different comparison periods, which is why their results differ. The data alone do not identify whether demand, costs or another factor drove each industry’s nominal change.

The inventory measure needs a different interpretation from turnover. Total closing inventories at the end of the second quarter were estimated at R1,502,955 million, 3.4 percent above the R1,453,434 million at the end of March. This is a stock measured at quarter end, not a flow of sales during the quarter. Manufacturing inventories rose 10.1 percent, community and personal services inventories 3.1 percent, and trade inventories 0.7 percent. Mining inventories fell 8.7 percent; real estate and business services fell 2.6 percent; construction 2.0 percent; transport 0.6 percent; and electricity, gas and water 0.1 percent. The mixed industry movements constrain what can be inferred from the aggregate increase.

The QFS does not cover every part of South Africa’s economy. Stats SA’s footnote excludes agriculture, financial intermediation, insurance, government and educational institutions. The R3.871 trillion figure should therefore not be presented as all business turnover nationwide or the total value of all economic activity. The survey compiles turnover and closing-inventory estimates from financial statements in the specified industry groups. Its scope and accounting concepts also mean that the figures cannot be substituted directly for those industries’ national-accounts values. National accounts use distinct definitions, valuation and compilation methods. The headline consequently describes the eight surveyed industries, not the whole economy.

Turnover, inventory and order trends can offer businesses context on revenue flows and working capital, but QFS alone does not show profit margins, wages or productivity changes. Because nominal turnover is not adjusted for price changes, the 8.1 percent annual increase cannot be described as real sales-volume growth. Nor does higher inventory automatically prove stronger demand or an unwanted stock build-up; product mix and conditions within each industry matter. Stats SA reports aggregate and industry changes, not the behaviour of every firm. Later quarters will be needed to assess whether this nominal pattern persists and how the balance among industries changes.