FX.co ★ South Africa Factory Output Rebounds in March

South Africa’s manufacturing activity rose 0.9% year-on-year in March 2026, rebounding from an upwardly revised 2.3% decline in February. This is the first increase in manufacturing output since November, driven mainly by gains in food & beverages (3.5%), petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products (1.8%), and electrical machinery (11.9%). On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, output grew 0.8%, following a downwardly revised 1.8% drop in the previous month. Despite the March improvement, manufacturing production contracted by 1% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter.