Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) shows mining activity contracted for a third consecutive month in July on a year-on-year basis.

The manufacturing sector, however, saw a slight recovery in the same period after falling for five consecutive months.

On a year-on-year basis in July, mining production fell 7.5 percent while, manufacturing saw a slight increase of 1.1 percent.

The largest negative contributors to the miming July data were Platinum Group Metals, coal and iron ore.

Stats SA Principal survey statistician, Juan-Pierre Terblanche elaborates, “South African mining activity decreased by 7.5% year-on-year in July 2026. Platinum Group Metals, coal and iron ore were the most significant negative contributors. Platinum Group Metals declined by 13.5%, pulling overall growth down by 3.2 percentage points. Diamonds, nickel, gold and copper were also weaker. On the positive side, the production of chromium ore and manganese increased year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, seasonally adjusted mining production decreased by 1.9% in July 2026 compared to June 2026. This followed a marginal rise of 0.1% in June and a decline of 5.6% in May.”

The manufacturing sector saw a slight improvement in July, showing signs of recovery.

The largest positive contributions were made by the food and beverages division and the petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products division.

FNB Senior Economist, Thanda Sithole explains, “There was a reasonably encouraging rebound in July. Manufacturing output increased by 1.1 percent year-on-year after three consecutive months of annual constriction and this was significantly better than the 2 percent decline that economists had expected. More importantly, seasonally adjusted manufacturing production increased by 2.2 percent month on month in July. That was the strongest monthly increase in some time and marked the third consecutive month of expansion. So manufacturing is showing some improvement going into the third quarter and if this momentum is sustained, it could provide some support to GDP growth after manufacturing weight on the economy in the second quarter.”

Analysts say South Africa’s industrial recovery remains uneven.

This, as the economy remains constrained despite signs of improvement especially in manufacturing.