The South African trade surplus in February 2026 increased by 83.5% year-on-year. This is even more remarkable given the strength of the rand. The rand rose by a monthly average of 15.7% to R15.9887/US$1 in February 2026 from R18.4964/US$1 in February 2025. As a result, it increased by 88.5% year-on-year in US dollar terms.
South African Revenue Service (SARS) Said R36.9 billion surplus was due to exports of R168.1 billion and imports of R131.2 billion. This was the second largest surplus in the last 13 months.
monthly change
On a month-on-month basis, exports increased by R12.8 billion or 8.2% to R168.1 billion from R155.3 billion. 83.% of the increase in the trade surplus was driven by vehicle exports, which increased by R7.2 billion or 55.4% to R20.1 billion.
Additionally, machinery and electricity exports increased from R2.1 billion to R11.3 billion. Base metal exports increased by R2.0 billion to R14.7 billion. However, precision optical goods fell from R2.2 billion to only R1.0 billion. Mineral products declined by R1.7 billion to R40.3 billion.
Concurrently, imports fell by R15.7 billion or 10.7% to R131.2 billion. Machinery imports declined by R4.9 billion or 13.7% to R30.8 billion. Vehicle imports fell by R4.3 billion or 25.4% to R12.6 billion.
regional division
Europe was the region with the highest export growth in the first two months of 2026, with a 17.4% year-on-year gain. This is followed by an increase of 6.6% in 2025.
Despite the implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement in January 2021, exports to the rest of Africa declined by 15.4% in the first two months. Exports to the region are set to decline by 2.1% in 2025.
the country is divided
The top 5 countries to which South Africa exported in February 2026 were: China (10.8% of total exports), Germany (9.2%), US (7.5%), UK (5.5%) and Japan (4.9%). This was not much different from January when the order was China (13.6%), Germany (7.9%), the US (6.7%), the UK (5.9%) and the Netherlands (5.8%). This shows that despite strained diplomatic relations with the US, it remains South Africa's third largest export destination.
The top 5 importing countries from South Africa in February 2026 were: China (25.4%), India (6.1%), Germany (6.1%), the US (6.0%) and Nigeria (3.6%). The order in January was China (23.5%), India (7.7%), Germany (6.6%), the US (6.1%) and Oman (3.1%). It is noteworthy that before the Iran war started on 28 February 2026 and the oil supply was disrupted, Nigeria had replaced Oman.
The key question now is whether South Africa's trade surplus can grow by 83.5% year-on-year in the coming months.